Remnants of a Courier
by Shadow Amongst Shadows
Summary: The Courier had always been driven to do better. To make the Mojave a safer place for all. He defeated House, the NCR, and the Legion. But after being turned on by those he trusted, he went to use desperate measures. His plan failed and he was transported to a new and foreign land. - The story will start off Teen but may progress to Mature.
1. Prologue: Betrayal

Author's Note:

Hey viewers, so I had an idea while playing Fallout New Vegas. What if Courier Six from the game found himself in the world of Remnant from RWBY? I read some other fanfictions with this same premise a long time ago but I'm hoping to bring some fresh ideas to the table.

Some things to get out of the way first, I'm going to be taking some liberties with this story. Especially when it comes to the Courier himself and the technology he uses. There's no 100% true lore I could find for a lot about the Courier's past so I'm going to be filling in a lot of gaps. The technology between RWBY and Fallout is different and run at different energies. Again the technology isn't super laid out so I'll be taking liberties with that as well.

My final note before you get started reading would be that the Courier isn't going to be the nicest person alive.

Enjoy the prologue!

 _"Text/messages"_

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

 _Prologue: Betrayal_

* * *

It had been a year, a year since the battle of Hoover Dam. A year since the Courier's travels with his many companions. The auto-doc inside the Sink room was still amazed at how damaged and beat up he could get despite his skills and accomplishments. Right now the auto-doc was tending to the Courier's wounds. He had several burns, bullet wounds, and stab wounds all over his body.

This was the worst shape the auto-doc had ever seen the Courier in, other than when it was removing his brain. Several tools moved into place and it had been forced to heavily sedate the Courier. It would have put him completely under if not for his protests. It could hear his grunts of pain as it worked.

The Courier for his part fumed in anger and pain as it worked over his body. He couldn't believe what they had done to him. Those he had trusted had turned on him! Him! He was the one who had freed Vegas from House, from the NCR, the Legion! He was the rightful ruler of the Strip and they had taken it from him!

A shout of pain finally escaped Six's lips as he felt a blade cut a piece of him away. He knew that the auto-doc would make it grow back but it still hurt despite the sedatives.

He had been fair with his ruling. As long as no one forced others into servitude and didn't cause too much trouble, he would leave them alone. Things had been chaotic at first and still were to a degree but his upgraded Securitrons had been able to keep order on the Strip so far.

His mind wandered to Ulysses words as he felt a needle enter his side. If war wouldn't change, then men had to. The people of the Mojave hadn't changed one damn bit. He'd punish them if it was the last thing he did.

This betrayal hurt more because of those that had betrayed him. Those he had trusted had helped NCR and even some Legion spies into his ranks. Boone, Cass, Arcade, even Veronica ended up turning on him. Of course, they all did it for different reasons and varying factions. NCR wanted in, Legion wanted in, the Followers of the Apocalypse once they realized he hadn't given them exactly what they wanted, and the Brotherhood of Steel. Yes Man had been right when he had said they would be his biggest concern.

He had been forced out of the Strip when Yes Man had turned on him. His new more "assertive" attitude had taken some time to install but once it had the Courier had been pleased at first. He ran things in the Courier's absence when he needed to handle things personally.

That had been Six's biggest mistake. He had trusted the AI too much. He was in the penthouse when it happened. He idly wondered if Joshua Graham would have sided with them as well when his own Securitrons turned on him in. He supposed this was how House felt when he had taken the tyrant down.

The Courier knew that not everyone was pleased with how he ruled as it was more anarchy than before but he hadn't realized how upset they truly were. He had managed to survive the initial ambush of Securitrons only to be hounded by NCR Rangers and Legionary assassins.

The Strip had been a death trap but he had survived worse at the Divide. The idea of returning to Zion had crossed his mind as he would no doubt have supporters within the Sorrows that resided there but he had decided against it due to the lack of the Dead Horses and the Burned Man. Though at this point he half expected Joshua to betray him as well.

He hadn't realized how far the betrayal truly went amongst his allies until he went to rally with them. His allies knew him best and thus knew that anything short of a small army wouldn't take him down. The Courier hadn't been prepared for the second ambush at Boulder city.

The trap there had proven far more severe as he had called everyone he had come to trust there. It was only when he learned that even his closest companions had come to disdain him. He remembered Veronica's words well.

"You promised these people something better, a free Vegas where they can live without a tyrant that sits at the top of the Lucky 38. Instead, you became the new House."

The light growling that escaped the Courier notified the auto-doc that he was either in great pain or beyond livid. If it had to guess, it was probably a mixture of both at the moment as it cut another piece of burnt skin out of him.

It wasn't the Courier's fault that the people went damn near insane as soon as NCR, Legion, and House left the picture! He had to keep some level of order. He had made examples of some of the Strip's residents for good measure. It had worked on the Raiders before and no one complained. That was most people though now that he thought about it. They all loved the idea of order and safety but when it came time to make the hard decisions and take action they all cowered away like the cattle they are!

He had barely made it out of Boulder city. Those that had remained loyal to him did not. The Courier lowered his head slightly as his thoughts shifted to Rex. That dog had seen him through thick and thin. He had watched on in horror as NCR soldiers gunned him down with the King's men backing them.

Rex had always been there for the Courier. The dog had carried his equipment, protected him from danger, and provided comfort in times of need. Seeing Rex die had left a hole in his heart that he knew wouldn't be filled soon.

Then there was Lily. The super mutant had bought him time throwing herself at the rest of his companions that had turned on him. The image of her going mad with pain as Boone, Cass, Veronica, and Arcade turned on her burned into his mind as he grit his teeth. They practiced that they were just, that they were right, but they had no issue gunning down the innocent woman.

Ed-E, well, not the one from the Divide but a good second had been blown to pieces as Boomers passed overhead in the bomber he had gotten them. The machine had served him well and had been the last remaining remnant of its counterpart in the Divide. Thinking back on it, he regretted saving those fools from the nukes at the cost of his companion now.

The only companion that had any true sane thoughts that had remained at his side had been Raul. The ghoul had fought tooth and nail side by side as each companion fell. The only reason Six hadn't retreated in the first place had been because he would have had to leave his companions behind to the traitors.

The ghoul had kept up until the point the Brotherhood of Steel had sent in its forces. They even had some help from the former Enclave remnants. It was the worst possible situation the Courier could have found himself in. The two fought for another hour before they ran out of tricks. The two of them were cornered and Raul had been reduced to ash by the Brotherhood and the Enclave remnants.

The Courier himself hadn't fared much better. He had fought with his allies every step of the way trying to slow down the enemies forces but it hadn't been enough. He hadn't had all his gear at the time and had been forced back time and time again. He had used every trick he could with the arsenal on hand. He only had his smaller firearms for the job and it hadn't cut it. The mines and explosives he had set slowed them but without his larger weapons, it was only a matter of time.

The image of his own blood covering his hands flashed through the Courier's mind as he took cover behind a large piece of concrete. He could hear the loud steps of a Brotherhood of Steel paladin walking by as he injected a stimpak into himself.

He carefully stepped around the piece of rubble and quietly stepped towards the paladin. There were weak points in Power Armor that could be exploited and he was the best when it came to exploiting weaknesses. Six remembered the feeling of the 44 magnum in his hand as he raised it towards the underside of the man's helmet and pulled the trigger.

It was only after everyone he cared for fell, only after he had been burned, shot at, blown up, stabbed, burned again, bit, and hit with damn near every other weapon in existence had he retreated. It had been a last resort to retreat to the Big Empty. He had been forced to however as he could barely stand.

Now that he sat there in agonizing pain, all he could think about was getting revenge on the Mojave, all of it. He let out a long agonizing moan before finally passing out from the pain.

* * *

He had awoken several hours later in the Sink. The auto-doc had done its job. He had sat on his bed in the Sink for hours simply thinking. How would he get back at those that had betrayed him and what would he do afterward?

Afterward could come later. His enemies were likely regrouping and he wouldn't have a whole lot of time to get his revenge if he didn't act now but what to do… It took some thinking before the Courier finally had a plan. If he couldn't have the Mojave, then no one could.

He stood up from his bed before making his way over to the intercom. He pushed the button opening a channel to the Think Tank before saying, "Klein, I have a task for all of you. It involves the Transportalponder."

* * *

He had ordered the Think Tank to work on the Transportalponder a few days ago. Now he stood just outside the door. They had notified him that they had succeeded in their newest task.

The door opened and he entered the spacious room. The mild bickering of the scientists driven mad entered his ears. "Klein, status report," the Courier said as he stepped up the stairs.

The good scientist had been bickering with himself and made a startled noise as Six approached. "Ah! O-oh, right! The upgrades for the Transportalponder are finished!"

"Good," the Courier replied as he stuck out his hand expectantly.

"I do have to warn you, the device is… Less likely to "portal" you and more likely to eviscerate you now." The mad scientist's words were less than pleasing to the Courier. "Although it's just a small chance that it will terminate you! Barely larger than what it was before! It's quite a step forward for SCIENCE!"

"But it is more accurate now? I can key in coordinates and it will take me there," Six asked as the robotic scientist handed him the device.

"Within reason of course," the brain replied while his servos shook. "Don't go out of this great country and it should work just fine."

"Right," the Courier responded before turning away. He didn't bother with goodbyes as he didn't care and he knew that the Think Tank didn't care either.

He needed his gear from the Suite in the Lucky 38 but he doubted that the NCR would let him through although they'd probably have their hands full with the Legion. They had only temporarily sided with the Legion to get rid of him. He doubted that his former companions thought he was dead but the NCR always underestimated the individual. Once they thought he was dead, the NCR and Legion would turn on each other.

He gripped the device in his hands before taking a slow breath in and pulling the trigger. The blinding light and the feeling of being weightless were familiar to him and he hoped that he wouldn't become a pile of flesh on the floor.

* * *

To the Courier's luck, he found himself within the familiar walls of the suite. He quickly got to scavenging the room. He needed some equipment if he was going to accomplish his plan. He slowly pulled out the Elite Riot Armor that he had worn since the Divide. He usually only wore it when he was out on a mission but this was an exception. It was the appearance that had struck fear into the Mojave. Even the NCR veteran Ranger's armor wasn't as intimidating as his.

He continued rummaging through the items hidden within the Lucky 38 taking important and sentimental items with him until he came across his prized weapon. The Anti-material rifle that he held in his hands had been customized extensively. He doubted that anyone in the Mojave had spent as many caps on a weapon as he had for this one.

It fired 50 caliber rounds that could be changed out to explosive, armor piercing, or incendiary. It had a suppressor, custom parts that made it lighter, and a bolt that allowed for a faster rate of fire. The scope meant he could adjust between long and medium range when he needed to and the extended magazines meant he could kill more targets per clip. There were other less important modifications but it all led up to the impressive killing machine he held in his hands now.

He continued grabbing whatever he could before he heard the elevator start up. He cursed himself for not being faster and tried to think of anything vital he still needed. He stood up before turning towards the table nearby. A small round and silver locket lay on the table across the room. He quickly ran over to it before picking it up and stuffing it into one of his pockets.

* * *

Boone had been unhappy for a long time. His wife had been the one thing in his life that he had held dear and he knew that he'd never be whole again without her. But he had found purpose, purpose with the Courier and helping to secure a free Vegas.

He had worked with the Courier dutifully for nearly two years now; roughly a year securing the Mojave from House and nearly a year after helping to keep it safe. Things had been looking good at first when Six had taken over the Mojave. Things were a bit hectic but people were free. The riots had been quelled with more force than necessary and that was the first big sign of things to come for Boone.

People seemed to rebel against the Courier at first labeling him a murderer of House and blaming him for pushing away NCR support. Things were rough for the people as a lot of trade routes and supplies from the NCR and the Legion were gone. There were food shortages and the Courier did his best to manage but it wasn't enough.

As time wore on, things got worse and worse. Power was there on the Strip and some order was coming. The Courier saw how people couldn't survive without House and the NCR. They couldn't survive without some organized power helping them. Boone doubted the Courier had wanted to but he had stepped up.

Order slowly became a thing outside the Strip as the Courier expanded his influence but people were against following someone else again now that they were free. The Courier hadn't taken kindly to it. He had used force to put them in their place and had made examples of some.

Things fell apart quickly as the Courier grew more and more extreme which in turn caused the people to rebel more and more. It became a gruesome cycle as the Courier held more executions for dissenting people. Boone had always known that the Courier would do whatever it took to win but he hadn't realized he would turn his gaze on the people of the Mojave.

The tipping point for Boone and many others had been the battle of Freeside or what it was more infamously known as the Massacre of the Kings. The Courier had led a large group of Securitrons into Freeside and had put the King and his men down for forming an army against him. That was the public story at least.

The less well-known story was that it wasn't just the Kings. The NCR had rallied its troops, the Kings, and the locals of Freeside in a revolt. The two factions had set aside their differences in order to fight Six. This had been right after Yes Man had come back online. One of the first things the AI had seen was the Courier butchering the residents of Freeside.

Boone didn't know if it was the horrid acts the Courier had committed there or if the AI simply knew that Six was losing control but it had reached out to near everyone still in the Mojave after that massacre. It had been the one to form up the first ambush and the one after that on the Courier.

The sniper was damn sure that Six had escaped their second ambush but he didn't know how to find the man now. He doubted anyone could find him without the Courier wanting to be found. He was a sneaky bastard after all. Boone chuckled to himself as he thought about the fact that they all still called him Six or the Courier. He didn't know if anyone in the Mojave knew the man's real name.

Veronica next to him turned and gave him a curious glance as the elevator climbed higher. She had rarely seen the grim sniper smile let alone chuckle. She was about to question the former First Recon soldier when the doors opened. There in front of them the monster himself.

She saw the outfit that he was wearing; the armor of the Burned Man bandages and all. He had hidden his face from the general public and Veronica doubted that anyone outside of his close companions knew what he truly looked like. It wasn't a pretty sight.

She didn't even have a chance to say anything when she saw him. He simply turned, gave them a mocking salute, and pulled the trigger on the "gun" he was holding. There was a flash of light that blinded the girl and when she could see again the Courier was gone.

* * *

It had been a long few days for the bandaged man. The Courier had taken the guise of Joshua and was slowly adjusting the vest he was wearing. He allowed the voices of the Sink's personalities to soothe his mind at what was to come.

At one point in time, he had worked against what he was about to do. He had fought tooth and nail to stop a tragedy he hadn't felt was necessary. Things had changed however and he wasn't going to let them get away with what they had done. Before he could go through with his plan, there was someone he needed to talk to first, one person who had tried this before him that he had to tell before he went through with it.

He spent a long moment fiddling with the teleporting device in his hands as he thought on what to say to the man. The Courier let out a long sigh before finally pulling the trigger and disappearing from the Sink.

* * *

Another sigh escaped Six as he stared out at the Divide. The once-booming town had been laid to ruin by him even if he had done so by accident. The radiation and scorching winds that scraped against him brought some discomfort but he still stood there taking in the sight as Ulysses stood up from his sitting position.

The two couriers were a legend in the Mojave now. Their battle in the heart of the Divide had reached ears far and wide. The former Legion assassin turned to Six before saying, "so you've returned."

The Courier continued looking out at the Divide silent. Ulysses could tell something was wrong but not the what of problem. The flag bearing courier remained silent knowing that his fellow courier would speak when he was ready.

The patience that Ulysses had was one of the Courier's favorite traits about the man. He stood there for a few more moments enjoying the quiet before saying, "I've lost the Mojave, the Strip." The Divide's only sane resident remained silent waiting for Six to continue. "I… I was betrayed by those I trusted."

The former ruler of the Mojave felt his hands shaking as he did his best to hold in his anger. "I fought, bled, and damn near died for those ungrateful fucks. I didn't ask for thanks. I didn't ask for anything but obedience in return."

Ulysses waited a few more moments to make sure that the Courier was done speaking before responding, "the winds of change are hard on men. They are slow to change and burning away the old flags takes time. You pushed them, pushed them too soon and tried to control them after others had already tried and failed."

Ulysses' eyes wandered to the Courier as he heard a light growl escape the man. He had been different when they had met during their confrontation. He had less anger then, less hate. There was hope for a better Mojave in the Courier's eyes then that was gone now. Whatever had happened in the Mojave had changed the man.

"Ulysses, I'm going to get rid of it, all of it. The Strip, the supply roads to it, the bunkers near it; no one will hide." The Courier's words caused Ulysses' eyes to widen at what he was proposing. "There aren't as many now but there are still enough warheads to turn the Mojave into the second Divide."

Ulysses had hoped that the Courier had taken his words to heart. He knew now that men's hearts weren't so easily changed. The flag bearing courier knew that he had to stop this but he would try it with words first as the Courier had done before.

"You taught me that there's hope, hope for another Divide. Another Divide before it was bathed in invisible fire. You taught me that the Mojave could be a new idea, a home that you could go back to." Ulysses words were insightful as always but the Courier knew now that the Mojave could never be his home. "Do not throw away another idea, another hope for something new to be born."

"I… I'm sorry Ulysses," the Courier began as he pulled out the Transportalponder. The former assassin quickly reached down and grabbed the Courier's arm. The sorrowful tone and look Six wore quickly faded as he responded, "I will only say this once. Let go." Ulysses in response simply narrowed his eyes at the Courier.

"I won't let you crack the Mojave as you did the Divide."

The two reacted at the same time as the flag bearer landed a solid blow on Six's face while the Courier's hand reached for the device. The Butcher of House let the device fall into his free hand as he elbowed Ulysses.

The former Legion assassin raised one hand in defense as he went to kick the device out of the Courier's hand. The kick connected as Six pulled the trigger. There was a spark that came from the device as the Courier thought back on Klein's words on the volatile nature of the Transportalponder.

The man who had brought down House, pushed the NCR and the Legion out of the Mojave, and dug his way out of his own grave felt a scream escape his lips as a bright light engulfed him.


	2. Chapter 1: Courier of Two Worlds

Author's Note:

I wanted to get the first two chapters written before I posted the first. I feel that the first chapter gives you a good idea of who the Courier will be but not a good enough taste for the overall story and setting. So here's a chapter to hopefully keep you interested!

Fair warning I don't plan on jumping straight into the action so he won't be appearing just outside or inside Beacon. I want to do a fair amount of buildup before getting into the main events of RWBY. Please be patient with me!

Enjoy chapter one!

 _"Text"_

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

 _Chapter 1: Courier of Two Worlds_

* * *

Something was wrong but Six was in too much pain to do anything about it. Everything was shifting constantly and he felt like he was flying. At first, it was too bright, then it was pitch black, next his world turned into a series of bright colors. It hurt like hell and made him want to vomit at the same time.

The pain and lights lasted for some time before everything went dark. That's when he felt eyes on him. He knew in that darkness that something was watching him. No, there was more than one of them but the Courier didn't know how he could tell. Were they watching him with curiosity? Or with rage? Trepidation? The eyes watching him in the darkness were conflicted and it was hard to tell if they all felt conflicted or if just some felt that way.

That was when he heard a loud booming voice command, "sleep." It had a nearly instantaneous effect on him as he could feel his eyes already closing but he knew he couldn't sleep yet despite the pain. Something was incredibly wrong and he couldn't rest yet. He fought harder doing his best to keep his adrenaline going as he screamed back at the darkness

Whatever was in there seemed to hesitate seemingly surprised at his resistance. He continued to scream and resist as he flew forward towards whatever was ahead. Six glanced at what he believed was up as a bright light hurtled towards him. His screaming continued until he was engulfed by the light.

* * *

The Courier awoke panting. He opened his eyes before shutting them tight. He had a raging headache and it was too bright out. His arm stiffly moved up to cover his eyes while he slightly opened them. After a few moments of blinking, Six's eyes managed to acclimate to the surrounding light and he could see.

He was in a forest of some kind. That didn't narrow down where he was at all. His first idea had been Vault 22 but it would have grown exponentially since the last time he saw it and he wasn't being attacked by spore carriers.

His next idea was he had gone back to some of the more remote areas of Big Mountain but there was simply too much plant life to support that. He slowly sat up while looking around at the absurd abundance of trees. Nowhere in the Mojave could you find this many flourishing trees. Hell, the Courier doubted that one could find this anywhere in the Wasteland.

The Courier slowly got to his feet as a headache slowly subsided. The last thing he remembered was the Transportal-Trans-the device malfunctioning. His headache was making it hard to think clearly and the device had a stupid name anyways.

Speaking of, a cursory glance around him showed that the device lay only a few feet away in lots of tiny pieces. The frown that crossed his face wasn't a pleasant one as he realized what that meant. He had no way back to the Big Empty and no quick way to fix it. He was stuck wherever he was at. At least the device hadn't eviscerated him.

Speaking of, where was he? He looked down at the Pip-Boy on his wrist, looking at his map. As soon as he switched it over, the device displayed "location unknown." Either he was out of satellite and GPS range or his Pip-Boy was broken. Considering what had just happened it could be either or.

The Courier went to scratch his face before realizing the bandages were still around his head. He figured that he needed to be prepared for whatever could be in these woods. Six began stripping off his armor before using his Pip-Boy to dematerialize it.

The former leader of the Mojave didn't know all the specifics of how his Pip-Boy worked but he knew enough. He had been considered one of the single most intelligent men in the Mojave before the betrayal and he prided himself on that. Apparently, the device dematerialized an object and then stored it inside his body adding more mass to it. He could bring with him as much as his body could physically support.

He stored the Burned Man's armor before materializing and donning his Elite Riot Gear. Once he was in more protective armor, the Courier stood there conflicted. He was unsure of what direction to take or where the nearest town was.

He idly flipped through his inventory on his Pip-boy. He hadn't brought some of his heavier equipment because he had been planning on going into the Divide after his chat with Ulysses. The idea of getting bogged down with heavy equipment was an unpleasant one to the Courier.

He had the Mysterious Magnum holstered on his hip for now. He figured that if there was any trouble, the magnum would be enough to solve it. There wasn't a whole lot that could stop a .44 round from puncturing a hole in your head.

Six was about to pick a direction and start walking when he heard a faint voice in the distance. He paused and began listening more closely to the noise but instead of hearing more of the voice he heard something far closer.

The well-traveled courier drew his weapon before turning towards a light growling noise coming from a rather large bush nearby. If he didn't have keen senses enhanced by modifications from the Think Tank he wouldn't have noticed the light noises. He didn't waste time and fired a few rounds into the bush. Whatever voice was close by became quiet as he fired.

The thing that came stumbling out of the bush was something the Courier had never seen before. It was a black beast of some kind with a bone-like carapace on several parts of its body. Even on all fours, it came up to his chest and it looked mad. It reminded the Courier of a bony Yao Guai.

The thing didn't appear immune to bullets though and another quick shot to the head saw the beast lying on the ground still. It did something rather odd a few moments later and dissolved in front of Six. He hadn't seen that before. He racked his brain for anything that could explain it. Was it a manmade creature designed to dissolve upon death?

Question for later, right now he needed to know who had been talking. He turned towards the source of the noise before trudging through the trees towards it. He reloaded his revolver as he trudged on. The shadows cast by the trees cast an imposing figure on the Courier as the red optics glowed faintly.

The creature had led the Courier to believe that this forest was rather dangerous so he was surprised when he came upon a small clearing to find a girl. The girl was no more than twelve maybe thirteen years old if that.

All Six could see was her dark red hair that flowed past her shoulders as she was turned away from him. The girl held a basket in one hand filled with berries and flowers while her head slowly turned left and right. It looked like she had been startled by his gunfire and was unsure of where to go.

Eventually, her head turned towards him and he could see her bright green eye. The other was covered by what looked like a white medical patch of some kind. He was unsure of what held the patch in place as it didn't wrap around the entirety of her head but remained stuck over her eye.

The fear in that bright green orb that came from seeing him caused the Courier some level of discomfort. He had never been good with children and he wasn't looking forward to dealing with this girl.

"It's all right," he said as he reached up and turned off the glowing effect for his eyes. He had taken some artistic liberty with his gear and had painted his Elite Riot Gear a deep black. That combined with his red glowing optics made for an intimidating sight. He used this on his enemies, not young girls.

He kept the helmet on but holstered his weapon. He didn't need it around her and it probably scared her on top of it. "I'm not gonna hurt you," he continued as he took a few steps into the clearing but remained distant. He didn't want to make the girl too uncomfortable with his presence.

The girl didn't respond at first obviously nervous around the heavily armed man.

The Courier let a sigh out under his breath before continuing, "what's your name?"

Still, she remained quiet and Six knew he'd have to do more to calm her down so he could get some answers on where he was at. "We'll start with an easier question," he said before kneeling down in front of the girl bringing him closer to eye level. "You realize that there are horrible black creatures in these woods right?"

The fear in the girl's eye seemed to fade and was replaced by confusion. "You don't know what a Grimm is," she asked not truly believing he didn't know what the creature was.

The Courier tilted his head to the side before replying, "Grimm?"

He could see that the caution in her eyes was slowly fading as she said, "Grimm are the big black monsters that hurt people."

The Courier needed to figure out where he was. The idea that these black creatures were common in this area of the world didn't please him. "I think I saw one not too long ago actually. Black creatures with bone-like armor?"

"That's one of them," the girl said before realizing something. "Hey mister, did you fire that gun earlier? To kill the Grimm?"

Six nodded his head while responding, "sure was. Didn't know it was called a Grimm until you told me though."

"You're just like a Huntsman," the red-haired girl whispered back as she brought her basket to her chest. "I've always wanted to meet a Huntsman or Huntress." She went quiet after that still cautious of him.

The Courier placed one hand on his knee before lightly scratching the back of his neck. "I'm just a courier," Six responded while looking down at the girl. The one-eyed girl barely reached up to his chest when he was standing in full armor.

"What's a courier," the girl asked while looking at him. She knew that it had to be cool because he was decked out in creepy armor.

"I deliver packages," Six responded and he could almost see the disbelief in the girl's eyes.

"Why do you need all that," she replied gesturing at his attire.

He chuckled lightly at the girl's disbelieving stare. Six knew that he was rather heavily armed for the average Wastelander but one still needed to protect himself when traveling from place to place. This place couldn't be that dangerous if couriers were safe to travel.

"For raiders, monsters, or Grimm," he replied as he stood back up to his full height. "The world is a dangerous place." He paused for a few moments before continuing, "speaking of, what's a young girl like you doing in a dangerous place like this? If that Grimm had found you instead of me, it would have been bad."

The light blush that adorned the girl's face forced the Courier to hold in another chuckle. The girl's slight pout proved to Six that she had taken some offense at him calling her young. "I was gathering berries for my papa." Her basket held said fruits and flowers and the Courier figured she was telling the truth. After all, what reason would she have to lie to him? A stranger she met deep in the forest that was heavily armored and came from seemingly nowhere. On second thought, he could think of a few reasons for her to lie to him.

The berries reminded him of a question he needed an answer to. "Where are we," Six asked while taking a glance around. He had never seen so much greenery. It looked like some of the pictures of the old world he had seen. The Courier had thought that he would never see a forest in his life. Six was glad that he had been wrong.

"What do you mean? We're in this forest." The girl obviously didn't understand his question based on the confused tilt of her head she gave him.

The Courier let out a sigh before replying, "I mean what country. Are we near a town? Where's this forest?" He paused for a few moments before finishing, "I'm very lost."

This time the girl tilted her head further at Six and he couldn't help but roll his eyes at her response. "How are you supposed to be a delivery man if you get lost," she asked her curiosity overriding her nervousness around the man. "We're near my hometown Rhyt. It's in Vale to the southeast of the City of Vale."

This was a problem. The Courier didn't recognize any of those names. He knew that he wasn't in the Wasteland anymore but not recognizing any of the names she said was a bad sign. Not only was he in a foreign country but they had forgotten their original name as well.

"You don't happen to have a map of the area do you," Six asked before taking a glance around. He idly wondered if there were more of those creatures around here.

The girl tilted her head to the side before replying, "no. I think my papa has one back at the house though."

"Do you mind if I speak with your papa then," he asked before turning towards the trees to his left. He could faintly hear the sounds of something stalking them just past the tree line. He quickly pulled up his Pip-Boy and saw that there were red markers moving just out of his vision.

The former ruler of Vegas pulled out his .44 again before ushering the girl to his right. "Why don't you show me the way to your home before we have more company," the Courier said while cocking the hammer of his revolver back. Normally he wasn't up for babysitting but this girl would probably die without his help.

"All right, but I don't see anybody," the girl responded with a confused tone looking past him. A quick glance from Six sent the girl moving.

The two made it a few yards before three more of the black creatures came charging out of the tree line. "Run," the Courier commanded as he turned and fired. He didn't even know this girl's name but he was defending her; it almost made Six chuckle. He supposed old habits die hard after all.

The first round missed its mark but the second found its way shattering a large chunk of the bone-like mask one of the beasts wore. The third managed to snake its way past the remnants of its mask before puncturing its head. The beast dropped quickly as its brethren charged past it.

The sounds of their fallen brother dissolving did nothing to dissuade the Grimm as the two beasts closed the distance. The Courier's aim remained true and another two rounds saw to the death of another beast.

The last Grimm lunged towards the armored man who fired his last round shattering the armored mask it wore. Six swore under his breath as he held one arm up in defense. The monster bit down on his forearm and he could feel its teeth sink into his flesh.

The Courier let out a muffled scream of pain as he was tackled to the ground. It began biting down harder threatening to crush his reinforced bone. Everything slowed for a few moments as the pain and adrenaline kicked his body and mind into overdrive.

The armored man's hand quickly darted to his chest where he grabbed his combat knife. He unsheathed it before letting out a yell of defiance and sinking the blade into the creature's unprotected face.

He pulled out the blade only to let it sink back in before repeating the process more times than he cared to count. The grip on his arm quickly weakened before going slack entirely. Six pushed the beast off of his frame before sitting up and breathing in deep.

That had taken more out of him than he had expected but that was partly because of the poor planning on his part. He should have thought about the six rounds in his gun before opening fire with the magnum.

He could already feel the implant healing whatever damage the creature had done. There were definitely benefits to becoming more machine than man.

He took a few more shallow breaths before looking towards the dissolving creature. The thing had been tough but it was no stronger than one of the Yao Guai the Sorrows often fought.

The Courier slowly got to his feet before looking back towards where he had sent the girl only to find her poking out from behind one of the trees at the edge of the clearing. The frown that adorned his face was one of annoyance.

"What did I tell you," Six said as he approached the girl. He could see the scared look on the girl's face as she glanced down at his injured arm. The Wastelander sighed before holding up his bloody arm and replying, "it's fine, see? Nothing wrong with it; I just got a scratch."

The girl seemed to calm at his words but her fearful and worried look quickly turned to admiration. "You're like a Huntsman." Her words gave way to skepticism when she took a second glance at his bloody arm. "Are you sure you're ok? That's an awful lot of blood."

"Sure kid," the Courier replied as he reached out and lightly pat her head with his not so bloody arm. "I'm doing perfectly fine. Do you mind taking me to wherever you father is now?"

The girl nodded her head before turning away and saying, "follow me." The red-haired girl quickly made her way into the trees with Six close behind her. "Say," the girl began with a curious tone as she led him past numerous trees. "I never got your name."

"Six," the Courier replied as he continued following the girl.

He didn't fail to notice the small frown that appeared on her face as she replied, "that's not a name, that's a number."

"I don't have a name, just a title," he replied back in a neutral tone.

"Well… Do you want a name?" The girl had stopped and turned back to him as she asked her question.

The Courier shrugged in response not particularly wanting a name but not truly caring either way. "You can just call me Courier Six if you want."

She didn't seem to be satisfied with the answer as she turned away and began walking again. "Mmm, can I name you… Simon?"

The rugged man simply grunted in response but she could tell that he wasn't very pleased with that one. "What about…" The girl paused for a few moments in thought as they exited the tree line to see a small town. "Josh," she finished before stopping and turning to him.

The Courier gazed past her at the small remote town and frowned. This looked like a very isolated village but it still had quite a few comforts. Where exactly was he?

"Call me Joshua and we have a deal," Six replied as he thought back on a certain burned individual.

The girl smiled up at him before replying, "sure thing Joshua." The red-haired girl extended her hand towards him before saying, "I'm Carmine, nice to meet you."

The newly dubbed "Joshua" paused for a moment before slowly extending out his hand to her. "It's nice to meet you as well," he replied somewhat awkwardly while shaking her hand. He wasn't used to trusting people or children for that matter. The two shook hands for a few moments before retracting them.

"Let's go find your father then," he continued looking back towards the town.

"Sure thing," Carmine replied turning around and heading towards her hometown.

As soon as the girl had turned, Six went about fixing his wound. A stimpak later and his arm was fully healed. A nice side-effect of his augmentations was that he healed faster than any normal human. He then set about cleaning off as much blood as he could before entering the town.

The two had approached the town and the Courier took in the sight. There was a rather large wall surrounding the town with sentries stationed along it. He imagined that there had to be something more dangerous than those "Grimm" from earlier to warrant such a large wall. The two had passed through an open gate and Six took note of the lever used to close and open it.

The rest of the trip had passed by uneventfully though Six did notice the girl grow more introverted as they entered the town. She grew quiet and did her best to not make eye contact with the people in the town. It appeared that the girl was more comfortable around a complete stranger than her own people. Of course, that could be attributed to his lack of knowledge of the local area.

The two had been given incredulous looks upon entering the town but no one had approached them yet. The Courier figured it was probably due to his armor and off-putting nature. It could also be the blood that was still partly caked on his arm. He preferred it that way, fewer people asking questions was always a good thing to him.

"Where does your father live," Six asked while doing his best to ignore the stares coming from the villagers.

Carmine pointed ahead of herself towards a small building with a chimney just ahead. "Papa lives there," she replied before putting her arm down. "He's the smith of the town. He builds things for people because we're too far away from the capital. He's made tools, weapons, and other stuff! He almost never makes anything like a Scroll though."

The two neared the house and Six couldn't help but ask, "what's a Scroll?" He knew what a scroll was but the girl seemed to describe something different from an average paper scroll.

The girl gave him an odd look before reaching into her hoodie pocket. While she was searching for whatever a scroll was, Six looked her over and realized that her clothes were far cleaner than most other places in the Wasteland.

A plain green hoodie accompanied jeans and what looked like sneakers. Upon closer inspection, the Courier realized that while her hoodie looked older and slightly worn her jeans looked brand new. He idly wondered where she got new clothes from considering no one was producing new clothing in the Wasteland. That was untrue; no one was producing new clothing of such quality in the Wasteland anymore.

His eyes locked onto the device that Carmine pulled out of her pocket. His mind strayed from the thoughts that most of the residents had fresh clothing to the device she held in her hand. Right now, the device simply looked like two grey cylinders pressed against each other but then the girl pulled the two cylinders apart and Six witnessed technology he thought he'd never see.

A holographic display came to life in-between the two cylinders. His mind instantly went to the Sierra Madre and to the holograms that would wander the halls of the casino.

The "Scroll" looked like it had several applications on it but the girl moved to some kind of messaging app. "I would show you a video but the connection outside the capital isn't very good," the girl said as he saw a wall of text appear on the screen. It looked like a chat between her and her father but he couldn't make out all the words.

"Fascinating," the Courier began before the girl closed the scroll and put it back in her pocket.

Carmine looked up at him while asking, "you don't have a Scroll mister?"

Six shook his head before responding, "nope, just this." He held up the Pip-Boy around his arm and she glanced from him to his Pip-Boy.

"It's big, what does it do?" Her question almost made the Courier chuckle again. The Pip-Boy had kept the Courier alive these past two years. It could do more than she thought.

"It's done a lot for me. Kept track of my inventory, kept notes, it keeps me on track with a map. There's other stuff as well but you get the idea." After he finished talking, the Courier lowered his Pip-Boy and let his arm rest at his side.

The girl seemed to pause in thought for a moment while staring up at him. "So, it's like a wrist-mounted Scroll?"

Six paused for a few moments before holding up his hand and making a waggling motion. "For the most part yeah," he responded before putting his hand back down.

The red-haired girl turned around and continued forward motioning for him to follow. He didn't know if she was satisfied with the answer or if she was simply mulling things over.

The two reached the house and Carmine opened the door before walking in. "Papa I'm home," she called out as she took her shoes off.

"Welcome home," a masculine voice called back as the Courier stood just inside the door. "How was your day my Little Lake?" The girl walked into the other room and Six waited patiently by the door for now.

The initial entrance was rather bare but he hadn't expected too much. A lot of it was stone but Six knew he was the local smith so that made sense.

"It was good papa, I brought home a guest," the girl replied as the Courier figured it was a good idea to close the door behind him and take off his boots.

"Oh? Bring him in then," the older voice replied. Now that he had heard the voice more Six could make out a soft and aged tone.

Hearing his cue, Six stepped forward and into the room. He spotted an older man most likely in his late forties or early fifties sitting in a large cushioned armchair. He had grey hair and a short beard that looked like it could use a bit of trimming. Sitting next to him was wheelchair and after a quick glance the Courier figured out why.

The man Carmine called "papa" was missing his right forearm and his right leg was bent at an odd angle. There was a cane that leaned against the man's armchair and the man idly brushed his hand against it for comfort.

The man's face had a leathery appearance but held a soft yet wise look. The man's gentle smile faltered slightly as he saw the fully armored Six. "I take it that it was an exciting day Little Lake?" The question from Carmine's Father was friendly enough but Six could make out the worried tone in his voice.

Carmine for her part had the shame to look away before responding, "yes." She held up the basket with flowers and fruits in it. "I was getting this for you papa."

The older man sighed before grasping the basket and bringing it towards himself. "Thank you Carmine, but you know that you shouldn't go into the woods alone, it's dangerous." Her father's words were spoken with a soft yet final tone that let her know that he was disappointed yet thankful.

"I know," she replied in a low tone before turning towards the Courier. "But Joshua saved me from the Grimm."

"He had to do what," the older man asked as the soft tone disappeared for a moment. The girl's face went pale as her words faltered and she refused to speak. The grey-haired man sighed before continuing, "we will talk about this later."

Carmine's father turned towards Six before saying, "I suppose I need to thank you then stranger. It looks like you saved my daughter." The older man extended his hand out before continuing, "my name is Richter Spring."

Six extended his hand in turn and shook hands with the man. "Joshua, just Joshua," the armored courier replied before retracting his hand. The man's hand was rough though Six figured that it was probably from working in a smithy. "And don't mind it, I wasn't going to leave a girl to get eaten by Grimm." The Courier knew he had to adapt and use the local term for the creatures here. Knowledge was power and people figuring out he wasn't from around here could be bad.

"Either way, thank you," Richter replied as he glanced at the Courier's wrist. "That's a strange device you've got strapped to your wrist."

Six glanced down for a moment before replying, "it is. I use it like a scroll though it doesn't have all the features of one." From his previous glance at Carmine's scroll, he could tell that the device was more advanced than his Pip-Boy.

"It's a little clunky to be using then don't you think? If it's bigger than a scroll, yet doesn't do everything a scroll does. Why don't you just get a scroll," the old man asked as he looked back up at the Courier's mask.

This was the first test for the Courier to keep his cover. He needed to figure out where he was before he could tell them where he was from. He could have ended up in some communist country where they execute people from America. He didn't buy into the whole "Red Menace" idea but he didn't want to take any chances either.

"A scroll is expensive. I got this thing for pretty much free." The Courier's words weren't lies. He had gotten it from the doc in Goodsprings. It had just cost him two bullets to the head to get there in the first place.

The older man shrugged before leaning back in his chair. "Well, I'm not one to judge. I figure I owe you something for saving my daughter so name your price." The old man's words were spoken in an almost resigned tone. It was as if the old man didn't particularly want to but his gratitude almost forced him to help Six.

The Courier took another glance around and realized the issue. Things were old and it looked like upkeep in the house had become secondary. If Six had to guess, the man's disabilities made it hard to work and it was hurting them both.

"Just need a map, need to know where I'm at," Six replied while looking back towards Richter.

The old man raised his eyebrow before turning to Carmine and asking, "would you please get our new friend here a scroll dear? I think we've got an extra laying in the other room." He had phrased it as a question but the girl knew it was more of him telling her to get the map.

The red-haired girl nodded her head before heading off into another room. It was only then that Six realized something. "Good kid, but she said she didn't have a map earlier," the Wastelander said while turning to her father

There was a short moment of silence between the two as the older man took in his words. A small smirk played out across the man's face as he replied, "I imagine she wanted you to come back and visit our little home. She doesn't get to see many visitors as we're not near the capital. It can get rather boring out here for her."

"Fair enough," the Courier replied crossing his arms over his chest. "Better be more careful with her, caught her out in the woods with those Grimm." He was doing his best to keep up the small talk which he could normally do. Six was charismatic but that was when he was playing a role or he needed to lead people. In the Mojave, he was whatever people needed him to be. Here, he wasn't sure who to be.

"Yep, she's a wild one but she just wants to help her old man out. Ever since my injuries, it's been hard trying to take care of myself let alone her." The older man's words were soft and tired like he hadn't slept in a long time. Richter chuckled before continuing, "don't worry about us though, we'll make do."

A silence settled over the two as they listened to the sounds of Carmine searching the other room. "Let's get to the point," Richter said as the soft tone left his voice. "I need to know my girl is safe right now. Seeing you dressed up in that armor and the blood on you doesn't give me confidence."

The Courier glanced at his arm before looking back at the girl's father. "Your daughter is safe and I'd have you know that's my blood on my arm. It got there when I was defending your girl from Grimm in the woods." The armored man paused to let his words sink in. "Besides, she's a nice girl, can't see a reason to hurt her."

Seeing these people in this village, with children, being happy, it hit a soft spot in the Courier's heart. It made the pain of betrayal he experienced fade slightly. A small grin spread under the Six's mask as he thought on it. This was what he wanted the Mojave to be.

The older man let out a grunt and looked like he had something else to say before they heard the sounds of Carmine walking towards them. The two grew quiet as she entered back into the room with a Scroll in hand. She handed it off to the Courier who had quite a few ideas of what he would do with the Scroll once he was alone.

"Thank you," Six said before holding up the scroll closer to his face.

He mimicked her actions to start the device as the girl replied, "no problem."

It took him a minute or two and he could feel their eyes watching him as he fiddled with the device. It was slightly embarrassing but necessary to understand how it worked and where he was at. He finally managed to load up the map application and was thinking of a way to ask them where he was on it without sounding strange.

Then the map loaded and his eyes grew wide. "Shit," he muttered under his breath as he looked down at a map that was clearly not the seven continents of Earth.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey guys, thanks for reading! This has been a long time coming. I actually started writing this chapter months ago but between getting Tales from Purgatory set up and college I've been strapped on time.

Don't worry, I'm still going to work on Tales from Purgatory with this, in fact, I've got a chapter partially written. However, this is going to take priority for a bit as I try to get this story off the ground.

I don't know if you all thought a RWBY and Fallout New Vegas fanfic was necessary but I wanted to try it! Feel free to let me know your thoughts!


	3. Chapter 2: In the Middle of Nowhere

Author's Note:

I've read your reviews, and I appreciate all of them! After going through the chapters one more time I realized that the quality of the prologue was slightly less than what it should have been. That was in part my fault for not being super confident in what I wanted to do but I also don't have a proofreader to double check me. I'll be more thorough about that in the future.

I don't normally respond to reviews in the author's notes as I prefer to show improvement in my work instead. However, I read a review that went over Yes Man's betrayal and it was relatively interesting. I had to go research it myself to see if I had made a grave error. In reviewing details, websites, and forums I've concluded I have not. I can't go into detail on why I've decided this but I'm hoping to write it in later. Thank you for your review Ediros, it was fun researching this!

I also appreciate the positive feedback from everyone. You were all very kind and I even got a very nice review from AnIndulgentFellow. I agree a Joshua Graham story would be amazing.

Now that you've all listened to me ramble, enjoy the story!

 _"Text/messaging"_

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

 _Chapter 2: In the Middle of Nowhere_

* * *

This was not an ideal situation. Six didn't recognize any of these continents on the map. The Wastelander was glad he was wearing a helmet as the alarm on his face would have been apparent to Richter and Carmine. He needed to change his plans drastically if he planned on returning to the Mojave anytime soon.

These maps didn't make any sense. North America, Africa, Australia, none of the continents were listed on this map. Instead, it looked like the world was split into six instead of seven continents. He knew the world hadn't changed that much.

Were the maps faulty? Maybe he was in a town where they had false maps to keep people in? But he was recognizing some of the names on the map. Carmine had referenced Vale earlier so he knew which continent he was on if this map was true.

The two other people in the room gave him odd looks as he stood there in silence. "Joshua, are you ok?" Carmine's question snapped him out of his inner thoughts. He wasn't sure how to reply but he needed an answer.

"I'm fine," the Courier lied as he pulled the map away from his face. "Just figuring out where I am and where I'm going to go." He found himself on the map as the scroll had a GPS like his Pip-Boy. The town he was in was small enough that it didn't even appear on the map.

It was like he wasn't anywhere on Earth anymore. The continents were different, the countries were different, Grimm were apparently common, and none of it made sense.

He needed time to figure out what he was going to do. A little more urgent than his map problem was that he needed a place to sleep. He could wander into the wilderness and find a sort-of-safe spot to rest but he'd rather avoid his days of sleeping on the ground.

There was a long silence between the trio as the Courier went back to the scroll and began fiddling with it. "You look a little wrapped up with the map," the older man said as he watched the heavily armed man look at his scroll with uncomfortable intensity.

"Just a little unsure of where I'm going to be sleeping tonight," Joshua replied lowering the scroll again. He'd put it away, he didn't want them to think he was too unstable. "Plus, I'm not sure what I'm going to do next. I'm currently…" He paused for a few moments searching for the right words. "In-between jobs."

Richter sighed while stroking his chin. "I suppose we can house you, no sense letting you boil away in the heat."

The Courier didn't think it was that hot but he was also used to the Mojave heat. He'd strangle the life out of the next NCR trooper that said, "patrolling the _Mojave_ almost _makes_ _you wish_ for a _nuclear winter_ _._ _"_

Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure what the season was. Joshua just knew that it wasn't winter or fall. If he had to guess, he would say late spring or early summer.

He was tempted to look back down at the scroll and see what season it was but he didn't want to be rude to his hosts.

"If you have a place for me to sleep, I'd appreciate it," Six replied figuring he could use a place to rest and get useful information from the locals. "It doesn't have to be anything fancy."

"That's good because we don't get guests often," the older gentlemen replied as he pointed towards the other room. "Carmine, would you please show our guest to his room?"

The girl nodded her head before turning to Six and saying, "this way." She turned on her heel and led him to another room. This one looked like it was a small kitchen with a counter in the center. They lived in a rather small house but compared to the Mojave it was quite nice.

Now that he thought about it, the Courier realized that the inside was air-conditioned. There were very few buildings in the Mojave that had air conditioning and most of them were on the Strip.

Carmine led Joshua to a smaller door to the left of what looked like their bathroom. "This is it," the girl said as she opened the door.

Six could immediately tell that this room was unused and not meant for a guest bedroom. It was tight, cramped, and looked more like a closet than a full room. It had room for a chair, a bed, and a desk. It was enough for the Courier.

Then the girl leaned over and sniffed him. "You should take a bath. You really stink." The girl's words made the Courier realize that he probably did stink. From being in the radioactive wasteland and traveling so much he had to stink.

"Fair enough," Six replied as he set his revolver on the desk then turned back to the girl. Perhaps leaving a loaded gun out for her to mess with was not a good idea. He grabbed the weapon before dematerializing it.

The girl's eyes went wide as she watched him. "What was that?" Her question made Six realize what he had just done. It was likely that the people here had never seen a Pip-Boy and now he was going to have to come up with something to tell her.

"It's a feature my Pip-Boy has. Helps me carry stuff, I'd get into the specifics but it's really complicated." He hoped his answer was enough to dissuade her from asking more questions.

From the look on her face, the Courier guessed it wasn't. "Fine, I know enough for now but I want to know later," the girl replied before pinching her nose. "But first go take a bath."

Joshua rolled his eyed under his helmet before replying, "right, right. I'll be right back." He moved out of the room and headed towards their bathroom.

It was small only containing the essentials. They apparently had water to pour into a bath if they wanted which spoke volumes as to the levels of radiation in the area. If Joshua didn't know any better, he'd say that he was the most irradiated thing in this place.

He closed and locked the door behind him before searching through their cabinets. The Courier was looking for any sort of medication for pain. His implants and modifications dulled the ache but getting your arm munched on still hurt.

He began reading some of the prescription names and realized that it wasn't written in English. Now that he thought about it, the map hadn't been either, the Courier had just been too distracted by the map itself to read the fine print.

The absurdity of his situation set in when he realized he could read it anyways. To the more perceptive person, one could have seen the pupil and iris of his eye shifting in his socket. The modifications the Think Tank had installed worked wonders for him. He didn't personally recognize the language but his eye was feeding the information on each bottle to the modifications in his brain or whatever was keeping him conscious.

From what he understood, the Think Tank had made a number of important modifications to his eyes that enhanced not only his physical attributes but his mental ones as well. He could see in dim light, his eyes had a zoom function, and it allowed information to be taken in by the enhancements in his head.

Said enhancements streamlined information to his brain (if he had one) and could kick the analytical part of it into high gear. This allowed him to process words, unknown languages, and math at an accelerated pace that would be impossible for ordinary humans. Add on that he had been one of the more intelligent men in the Mojave to begin with and there was little the Courier couldn't figure out given time.

The modifications and his mind were working on deciphering this new language and were already starting to draw similarities to other languages. To the Courier, it was like a subconscious process that his conscious mind had little control over.

He couldn't make out every single word on the bottle but he could make out a good portion. It was like having a computer in your brain that helped process information.

He didn't have all the information but he could understand enough for now and given time he could get a far more in-depth understanding. He could read every few words on the bottle and even then, he didn't fully understand what the words meant. He'd have to acquire reading material to further analyze the language.

What was truly strange was that the spoken language was English but the written language was one he didn't recognize. That didn't make any sense, if your first spoken language was English then you could write in it or at least some of it. Why bother learning English but use an entirely different language?

He stopped analyzing the medicine and let his mind and enhancements have a break. Now that he thought about it, without a brain how were his modifications increasing his mental capacity? What was there to increase? Unfortunately, he couldn't go rooting around in his own head to find out. At least not until he got back to the Think Tank.

The Courier let out a sigh before dematerializing his armor and gear. He was at his limit now with all of his gear on him. If he tried to carry any more than what he was, he risked becoming over-encumbered. That would kill you in the Mojave.

He avoided looking at himself for now as he rummaged through their limited supply of medicine. He normally wouldn't stoop to stealing unless he was desperate but they wouldn't miss a pill or two and he needed pain relief now.

A bit of searching later and he found some pain relief medication. After downing the pills, he finally glanced at himself. It wasn't a very pretty sight.

Scars ran along his pale skin ranging from small and shallow to long and wide. Most would have questioned how he stayed so pale in the Mojave but the answer was quite simple. He wore armor that covered most of his body and face at almost all times. The sun barely met his skin as he traveled across the Mojave.

That didn't even touch on the subject of what covered his body. There was a layer of blood, dirt, and sand that covered a good portion of him. He needed to start taking better care of himself.

His hand idly ran along the medical scar across his chest where the auto-doc had removed his heart. Then he glanced towards his head.

He wasn't a very pretty man but that was obvious. He hadn't shaved in over a week and his black overgrown shaggy hair needed desperate trimming. Not to mention the several scars running over his face as well aging him by at least ten years.

The most prominent scar was a jagged one that ran across his forehead and all the way around his head. That was where the auto-doc had cut to remove his brain. It still felt strange sometimes not having his brain inside his noggin but he was still alive and kicking without it.

He idly wondered how he still had any form of consciousness as he was further away from his brain than ever. The brains at the Think Tank had done their best to explain it to him that his brain had a connection to his physical body. It somehow sent signals to his head that kept his mind going despite his brain also having a mind of its own.

Meeting his own brain had been one of the strangest things he had ever done in his life. It had been a snarky bastard but had been rather intelligent as well.

His scarring was the most apparent trait of his face as the rest of him was plain. If it wasn't for the scars, the pale complexion, and his untidy hair he doubted anyone would notice him in a crowd.

Even the changes to his eyes were relatively hard to spot unless you were staring him in the face. The green irises did a good job of hiding the slight irregularities in his eyes that indicated they had been modified. It was only when his eyes began shifting and he was using certain functions attached to his orbs that his changes became more apparent.

Now that he was feeling a bit better he moved over towards the bath. They had enough running water for a shower, again that was strange. Of course, everything about this place had been strange so far.

He heard a sharp knock come from the door before the voice of Richter said, "don't use up all of the warm water. The heater can't keep up so make sure to take a short shower."

So, they were getting their warm water from a boiler, or a heater depending on the region. He idly wondered if there was a well nearby that they drew from as he turned the water on. It had been… Well, it had been a while since he had taken a proper shower.

Showers were a rarity in the Mojave and even the Lucky 38 had a limited supply of water. It just meant he rarely took showers and even when he did they were under five minutes. He'd give himself a good ten minutes in this shower.

* * *

Stepping out of the shower felt good. The blood and dirt were gone and he probably didn't smell as bad. He had used some random soap he had found in the shower which he hoped they wouldn't mind. It was meant to smell like wood so he figured it was probably Richter's. He also had to wash the blood down the drain that hadn't quite flowed away when he was taking a shower.

It didn't take him long to get dry and then he had to decide on what to wear. As long as it covered most of his body, he didn't mind. He had never liked revealing his face and body because of the scarring plus it meant that he could keep his identity hidden and become anyone anywhere if need be.

He had only brought three outfits with him as he planned to travel the divide. His elite riot gear, the Burned Man's outfit, and the Stealth Suit Mk II. The last piece of gear was one of his personal favorites. It helped him avoid fights and the functionality of the suit was surpassed by none when it came to stealth. The only real downside was the SINK-like personality installed in the suit.

The SINK personalities were interesting to say the least. They ranged from vain light-switches to raging toasters. To his knowledge they weren't true AI, they were closer to a virtual intelligence or a program that closely mimicked intelligence. The personalities could crunch numbers, do tasks, and act human but they weren't truly intelligent and self-aware.

He assumed that the feminine personality installed into the suit functioned the same. He could probably disable her if he wanted but there was a part of him that was slightly attached to the personality. That and it would take up time and energy he could spend figuring out where he was.

After he finished ruminating, he decided to go with the Burned Man's armor. It would be a little less intimidating, cover him up, and still provide some protection if he was attacked.

The act of wrapping the bandages around his head always took time but was also a calming process. This was what Graham did every day in great pain. While the Burned Man did it out of necessity, he did it to hide his shame. The thought brought a frown to Six's face.

He stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed and refreshed. It was a nice change of pace not to worry about what was happening in the Mojave.

The thought of the Strip and the Mojave brought another frown to his face. He needed to get back. There were still a lot of issues he needed to sort out on the Strip.

In order to do that, he'd need to figure out what exactly had happened with the Transportalponder to get him here. Most of the parts for it were fried and he'd have to get to work repairing it. He didn't have the materials or the tools to fix it here.

Another problem he'd have to figure out would be how the damn thing truly worked. He understood the fundamentals, but only the Think Tank knew it inside and out, and they could barely string a few sentences together without getting distracted.

"Joshua," Carmine said as she approached him. She stopped before sniffing a few times and saying, "you smell like papa."

At least that confirmed what the Courier assumed. "Yeah, there wasn't a whole lot of soap for me to use in the shower. Hope he doesn't mind." He wasn't too worried about it however, Richter seemed like a reasonable man.

The girl nodded her head but didn't respond. She turned away and seemed to be thinking about something as she stared out the window. It was apparent to Joshua that she had some social anxieties around the people of the town. If he had to guess, she was somewhat scared of him but felt less awkward around him instead of her own neighbors.

The girl then turned to him and gave him a good long look. "Your outfit is weird," she said while raising a brow.

Six in response shrugged before replying, "just what I feel comfortable in."

"Why do you cover your face," Carmine asked slightly tilting her head to the side.

The question itself was more complicated than the girl knew. He didn't want to go in depth on his scars and where he got them. "Because I like to," he said giving her an evasive response.

The smile under his bandages didn't go unnoticed by the girl and the slight pout on her face only made his grin grow wider. Then she looked a little closer at his face before saying, "why do your eyes look so weird?"

The grin instantly disappeared as Six turned his eyes away from the girl. "They just are, helps me see in the dark." He hadn't expected her to look him dead in the eyes like that and immediately see through him. Children were annoying.

"So, your eyes are like a Faunus'?" The girl's question caused him to look back at her with a raised brow. He had no idea what a Faunus was but if whatever they were could see in the dark it peaked his interest.

"I guess," he answered in an unsure tone. This caused the girl to give him a strange look.

"How do you not know what a Faunus is," she asked while walking past him and towards the door to their house.

It wasn't his fault the Transportalponder broke but Six couldn't tell the girl that. "Haven't run into any." His answer was truthful even if he was withholding information.

The girl turned back to him as she reached down and put her shoes on. "That's weird, they're uncommon around here but even we have a few Faunus in town." Her words got him thinking about whatever these Faunus were.

Perhaps they were some kind of mutant from the radiation? An animal or even a person that could see in low-light areas? That didn't make complete sense because of the local fauna. The Courier doubted if the bombs had even hit this area of the world. Well, whatever world this proved to be.

Another problem he'd have to figure out later tonight when he had some free time. The geography was all wrong and the fact he knew next to nothing about the local area unnerved him. They treated the world as if the bombs had never fallen which made him suspicious.

"I'm going to take you on a tour through the town," the girl spoke as she finished putting her shoes on. It was less of a request and more of a statement. The Courier could tell there was no option but to go with her.

He sighed and shrugged his shoulders letting her know he'd join her. She grabbed her hoodie and opened the door while saying, "we'll go to the market first. It's the busiest part of town."

The Courier pulled out the scroll given to him by Carmine and Richter before opening it. The holographic display was a tad strange to the Courier but he was quickly getting used to it. He was more worried about how fragile the thing looked. Six assumed that if he dropped the thing it would break, unlike his sturdy Pip-Boy.

He needed a few questions answered as they walked towards the town. Local history of the area and an answer to what a Faunus is would be a good place to start. He was also curious how they had internet going at all. He had never seen any system this advanced and had only heard about some of the pre-war stuff. Hell, this even outclassed most of the pre-war stuff he heard of too.

Navigating the "web" was rather strange as well. He could input any question into the search engine and get several results. He had first looked up Faunus, which were apparently some kind of mutated people that took on animal-like traits.

He shook his head for a moment. Six kept forgetting that the rules of the Wasteland didn't apply to wherever he was right now. It was hard to believe that he could possibly be on a different planet. Everything in his mind told him that it was ridiculous.

His mind told him that he could just be reading false maps or that they were all just very confused but the Scroll and the maps told him otherwise.

Then he caught the word—or rather name—Remnant. He followed the link to another page which told him about the world of Remnant. He was definitely not on Earth anymore if what this article said was true.

The world of Remnant, which looked nothing like Earth and had Grimm. A world that had never bombed itself into the apocalypse.

He continued scrolling and read about the apparently half destroyed moon as well. At least the physics worked the same, wherever he was at. Mostly because the moon and its debris follow an asynchronous orbit.

"This town isn't old, it's just small." Carmine's words jostled Six out of his thoughts. "Most of the towns around here aren't very old because they're destroyed by Grimm."

Maybe the Grimm were a bigger threat than he initially thought. "How long have you lived here?" He was somewhat curious but the question was meant to distract her from the fact he was using his Scroll.

The girl tapped her chin a few times as Six looked back down at his device. There were so many questions he wanted to ask about this world and his Scroll could answer a lot of them.

"Most of my life, I don't remember when mama and papa moved here because I was too young. Whenever I ask why they decided to live here, Papa says that the capital was too crowded." Carmine's words caused the Courier to nod. He could understand the sentiment that a big city had too many people.

He stayed on the Strip because he had to run it but if Joshua was honest with himself he preferred roaming. Crowded areas were a bother, too many people and eyes staring at him.

"I can agree with that," the Courier began as he closed his scroll. He figured he'd give her his undivided attention for now. He could research this world later. "Big cities look pretty on the outside but get old once you're in them."

Carmine turned to him before responding, "you've been to big cities?" She paused before turning to him and continuing, "what cities have you been to?"

The Courier's mind ran on overdrive as he tried to think of a good way to weasel his way out of this. "I've been to a place far away from here," he began before taking a few steps past her. "It's a land that's unforgiving and harsh called the Mojave. In the Mojave is a place called the Strip, a city in a desolate wasteland."

The girl followed along behind him as he spoke, "it's a city where the strong survive and the weak perish." He paused as they passed by two parents with their child enjoying the spring or summer day. He still didn't know what season it was. "It's nothing like this place."

"It doesn't sound like a place I'd want to visit." The girl didn't realize how true her words were. The Courier had no doubt that if Carmine found her way to the Mojave that it would eat her alive.

The two approached what looked like the market Carmine had mentioned. It was a busy area, bustling by this town's standards. There were small stands that were peddling their goods ranging from food to simple weaponry. Some were advertisements for shops in town although Six didn't see the point in it. The town was small enough that each shop probably had little to no competition.

"The Mojave isn't a place most people want to visit," Joshua replied as he stopped before turning to her. He had given her some truthful information on where he came from but she didn't know exactly how far away the Mojave really was. He'd keep it that way. "I assume this is the market?"

The pensive look on the girl's face seemed to disappear as he brought up the market. "This is it," she confirmed as she stepped ahead of him. "This is where papa comes to buy groceries."

"Didn't think they'd sell weap-" Six's words died in his throat as he spotted one for the first time, a Faunus. It was a different sight, not too outrageous compared to what he had seen but it was enough to make him do a double take.

She looked mostly human but the strange tall ears attached to her head set her apart. If he had to place it, the Courier would bet that they looked like bat ears. His mind was already processing the implications of having such physical changes. Perhaps she could use echolocation or was her hearing far superior to a human's?

He snapped his head away from her when he realized he had been staring. Carmine was looking up at him with a brow raised.

"Are you ok? You looked like you were staring at something." Carmine punctuated her words by turning her head to try and find whatever it was he had been staring at.

While she looked for the Faunus he had been looking at, Six noticed something else. The people in the market were starting to look their way. He had expected to attract attention but what he hadn't expected was for Carmine to attract some as well.

It didn't take long for the red-headed girl to notice people staring. As soon as she noticed, Carmine seemed to clam up and lost the confidence she was showing. It was obvious she was uncomfortable now but why were they looking at her?

For now, they should move on. "Hey what's the next spot you wanted to show me," Six asked while moving himself in-between their eyes and her.

Not being able to see them seemed to put the girl somewhat at ease as she responded, "I was going to show you the jail. It's where bad people are put… And drunk people."

"Where is it," Six asked not truly caring about where their jail was. He just wanted to get Carmine away from the crowd.

The red-headed girl paused for a moment while she took in a few deep breaths. Once she had composed herself, she looked back up at him before saying, "it's this way."

It was obvious she was hiding her fears and how bad she felt but Six wasn't going to press it. She was trying to keep a strong face in front of him and he didn't want to address that in front of a crowd. He wouldn't let her appear weak in front of the common rabble of this town.

He had seen it many times before. People were either afraid, ashamed, or both of a single person and shunned them. They acted passive-aggressively and did everything in their power to hurt that individual indirectly. He hated those people.

The Courier was led on in silence for a while as he allowed her to compose herself. She could take all the time she needed, he was nothing if not a patient man.

The girl's hand shot out and pointed at a building on their left as she came to a stop. "That's it." Her words were less enthusiastic now and she spoke less. It was obvious she was being affected by what happened later.

The Courier's eyes glanced upwards as he stared off into the sky. It was starting to get a little darker in the town. Perhaps he'd get a good look at that shattered moon tonight. For now, he was going to have to do something about her current attitude. He couldn't leave her sad like that.

Joshua stepped forward before kneeling down next to the girl. At first, she seemed to tense up at his close proximity to her but after a few moments, she glanced at him.

"Hey, don't worry about them. They're acting ignorant. Besides…" Six let his sentence trail off as he finally got the girl to look him in the eyes. "You shouldn't concern yourself with the opinions of livestock." It wasn't long or the perfect way to comfort her but it was short and to the point.

Carmine looked him dead in the eyes and remained silent after his statement. The awkward silence continued for a bit before she finally spoke, "what?" That single word said by her proved to the Courier that she at least wasn't sad anymore.

She began chuckling before continuing, "what does that mean? They're not animals. They're people." At least she wasn't sad anymore.

In response, the Courier shrugged before standing back up. "Feeling a bit better?" He may have brushed it off like it meant nothing by asking a question but he meant what he had said. He gave two shits about the opinions of almost everyone here and everyone in the Mojave.

Most people couldn't fend for themselves and had to rely on others to survive. They traveled in packs like herd animals that are meant to be grazed upon. The Courier was not so helpless and he couldn't care less about the opinions of those that relied on others.

"Yep," Carmine replied as she gave him a smile. "This is the jail where people who do dumb things have to stay."

Six smirked under his bandages as he replied, "I assume you've never been in there right?"

"Nope!" She paused for a moment as she looked out at the sun. "It's getting a little dark and I need to check on papa. I can give you the rest of the tour tomorrow but we should head home now."

"Sounds like a plan," the Courier responded as he followed her lead once more.

It wasn't a long walk and soon they were back at the Spring homestead. The two entered the house and Six watched as the girl ran towards the living room while yelling, "Papa, we're home!"

Joshua couldn't make out what they were saying as he adjusted the straps on his body armor before entering the room.

"Joshua," Richter greeted as the armored Wastelander entered the room.

"Mr. Spring," Six replied as he came to a stop. "Your daughter was showing me around town but we saw it was getting dark and decided to return."

"That's good, what did you show him little Lake?" The older man's words were spoken with a much softer tone for his daughter than him though that was to be expected.

Joshua tuned both of them out at Richter's words. The girl was going over today's events with him and he was more interested in the scroll he currently possessed. There was so much to learn about this world and he had so much time to do it.

"Joshua." Richter's words jostled Six out of his thoughts as he turned back to the man. It looked like Carmine had left the room. "I told her she could go and get a book from the store nearby while you were daydreaming."

The Courier didn't miss the teasing tone in his voice. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude." He hoped his apology sounded sincere as he was a little embarrassed that he had been caught in the act.

"I know you didn't. Just wanted to have your attention," the older man replied as he tapped his cane. "I need to address something while she's not here."

The tone in the man's voice had shifted from teasing to serious and Six knew something was bothering the girl's father. "So far, you've only done right by my daughter, I appreciate that. However, she's still young and tired of living in this small town and that makes her quick to trust strangers."

Joshua knew where this was going. He had heard this kind of speech before. People were nervous around others who just happened to be traveling nearby and were willing to help.

"But I've noticed the way you carry yourself," Richter continued as his tapping intensified against his cane. It was obvious he was nervous around the Courier. "You always hide your face, you keep your guard up and a weapon ready at all times, you were covered in blood when I first met you, and you project this air of oppressiveness."

Six hadn't heard the last one before. What did that even mean? He had heard he projected authority and strength but never "oppressiveness." He was slightly insulted but Joshua had been called worse and he'd get over this.

"That's why I'm worried for my girl. You're not a simple courier and she doesn't need to get herself into trouble. Bad enough that…" The crippled man let his words trail off as a frown creased his face. "Bad enough she's already had to go through a lot. She doesn't need you putting her through more."

Richter sat up in his chair and did his best to glare at Six from his sitting position. "So, I'll only give you this warning once, you ever do anything to hurt Carmine and I'll make sure that the Grimm are the least of your worries." The crippled man's words would have been more threatening if he wasn't… Crippled. However, Six got his point.

Luckily for the man, Six didn't have any plans on hurting the girl. Sure, the Courier looked like a big bad mercenary that would be willing to hurt them—and in part he was—but he had no reason to hurt them either. There was nothing to be gained from harming them and Joshua hadn't stooped down to killing children… Yet. Except for that one time in Vault 22, and that was more of a mercy killing.

"You don't have to worry about that, I don't have any intention of harming you or your daughter." Six felt good giving an honest answer to the older man. He had gotten used to lying a lot when he was in charge of the Strip. "She's also interesting to be around."

The crippled man chuckled, the mood lightening. "I'll say, she can definitely be "interesting." The grin that had graced the man's face slowly faltered as he continued, "she gets in trouble more than she should but that's not entirely her fault. Not many of the other kids play with her and she has to take on a lot of responsibly since…" Richter's words trailed off as he pointed down at his leg.

Six nodded his head to the older man's words. He could agree with that, the first time he met her was when she almost got devoured by Grimm. The Courier hadn't replaced any of his limbs and he didn't like the idea of losing any. He'd already lost several organs inside his body, he wasn't looking to become more machine.

"Speaking of," Six began as he remembered some of the events surrounding Carmine. He had noticed her behavior and the way everyone in the village acted around her. "Why does everyone treat her like an oddity?"

Six figured he wasn't going to like the answer as a frown graced the man's face. "A little over a year ago Grimm attacked our town, they come in all shapes and sizes, and there was one that was different from the others."

The bandaged man shifted his weight as he let the man continue. "It's still the worst Grimm attack we've had so far. The militia was busy manning the walls and I was trying to move weapons from my home to anyone who was willing to fight." Again, Six nodded his head, had an idea of where this was going.

"Blood was in the air, fires were threatening to burn the town down, and Grimm were closing in from all sides. A lot of us thought it was the end and I still don't know how this turn survived." Six processed Richter's words as an image of a town on fire and besieged by monsters entered his mind.

"There was one Grimm I'd never seen before. It wasn't big or strong and it was smaller than a Beowolf. The real problem was that it was cunning. It moved outside the militia's sight and moved from house to house." The older man paused and took a few calming breaths before continuing, "why fight armed men when it could get the defenseless families hiding in their homes?"

So that was it, a Grimm attack caused a lot of damage to a young girl. Six's thoughts continued to put the pieces together on how that affected the town's view on Carmine as he continued, "You could say that we were luckier than some. All the other families that the creature got to didn't have one survivor. In fact, we were the last family it found."

So, their family had been the only one that partially survived? It was interesting to learn about Grimm but this variant of Grimm could be interesting as well. "It surprised me while I was moving weapons out of the house. It knocked me down, tore my leg and arm apart, and was going to kill me." Six couldn't help but glance downward at his leg and arm for a moment before looking away.

"My wife, Linda, was never going to let that happen. She picked up one of the weapons I had dropped and rushed it. The only reason I'm alive is because she did." Richter had to stop again to compose himself. It was obvious that this story hurt to tell. "It turned on her while I lay there screaming on the ground and…"

Six let the man pause one more time before cutting in, "I get the picture, you don't need to describe anymore. I assume some of the militia came in and rescued you?"

"That's about the sum of it. I barely survived my injuries that night and somehow survived the trip to the capital to get to a better hospital," Richter said before pointing down to his leg again. "Unfortunately, I don't have the resources for the new fancy prosthetics they've come out with."

There was a long pause before the older man finished, "that Grimm also blinded my poor girl in one eye."

Joshua was scratching the back of his neck now. It was a little awkward to be told all of this upfront. All of his older companions had taken time to form bonds and trust him enough to tell their story. Here this man was laying out probably the most traumatic event of his life in front of a near stranger.

"For a long while after, I was a hateful man. I drove away a lot of my neighbors and friends with how I acted. I didn't treat them well so they didn't treat me well." The local smith's eyes shifted to look out the window as he continued, "unfortunately Carmine picked up my attitude as well."

That girl had taken on a rude attitude? Six's brow raised in curiosity. That girl had been nothing but polite to him and nervous around anyone else. "It wasn't entirely her fault and I wasn't there to comfort her for a while."

A small smile graced Richter's lips as he continued, "kids can be mean but she could be meaner. She was often teased about her mother and missing eye but anyone that did so would get into a fight with her. She walked away from most fights upright while they didn't."

The smile disappeared as he sighed. "But she started going too far. My little Lake started hurting the other kids bad enough to leave permanent damage. Between my attitude and hers, we almost got thrown out of town." The older man's hand moved to his face before rubbing his eyes.

"I think her attitude changed because of one night. The other members of the town came to my house and gave me an ultimatum while my girl watched. Either I get my act and my girl's together or they throw my crippled behind to the Beowolves." Six watched as Richter swallowed hard obviously uncomfortable admitting his own mistakes.

There was a silence as Joshua understood why the town treated them strange. The man's eyes looked up towards Six as he said, "That made me realize that I had been wrong and I think Carmine also internalized a lot of the blame. She couldn't forgive herself for getting her father in trouble. We both changed our attitudes but people in this town are stubborn and slow to forgive."

At least Six understood why the town treated the young girl with a certain level of disdain. She was the black sheep of the town and even though she was trying to change her ways people weren't quick to forgive.

"Why did you share this with me, it has to be a touchy subject?" Six knew the question would come off as rude but he thought it made sense. He was a stranger that had just shown up today. Why would this old man share all this personal information with him?

The older man nodded his head and closed his eyes before responding, "because everyone in the town already knows. I'd prefer if you heard it from me than someone else."

Another silence fell over the two, this one longer as Richter sat waiting for Six to say something.

Six rubbed his chin as he responded, "thank you for sharing that with me. It's useful to know why everyone treats her differently. I often get that look as well but I'm not tied down to one place as you are. I hope they learn that you've changed as you've both been nothing but kind to me." Other than when Richter had threatened him but he was doing that to protect his daughter.

The older man visibly relaxed at Six's response as he replied, "thank you for the kind words. I like to think our hospitality is up to par."

"I can tell you that it is, I've gotten far better treatment here than a lot of other places." Six's response was true but everywhere he'd been to had been hit by nukes and that tended to make hospitality a secondary worry.

The Courier's eyes looked out the window and he could see the sun had just dipped over the horizon. "Carmine should be back any minute now," Six noted as he turned back to Richter.

The crippled man nodded his head before saying, "she will be. If not, I'll message her and at worst I'll send you out to get her."

"In that case, I'm going to get some sleep, wake me if she doesn't come back soon." Six left the conversation at that and proceeded to his room.

The story Richter told was interesting. He could understand that in his grief he had lashed out at others and it had even affected his also grieving daughter. He had failed as a father for some time. But who was he to judge? He had done far worse than either of them and for far less.

He entered the closet-like room before closing the door behind him. There wasn't a light in the room so the Courier used his Pip-Boy as a makeshift light as he sat down at the desk.

Six raised his hand as he materialized the Scroll he had been given earlier that day. He had plans for this thing. First, he'd learn all he could about this world Remnant. Then he'd backward engineer this Scroll before applying its functions to his Pip-Boy. Finally, he'd figure out what he needed to do next.

He was tempted to head directly back to his world but first he'd need to fix the Transportalponder. Besides, this world had an abundance of supplies that the Mojave needed. If he could form a connecting bridge between the two and managed to gather some resources from this world, that could greatly benefit the Mojave. Hell, maybe even his entire world.

He opened up an article about dust and its applications and began researching.

* * *

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading this chapter! I plan on continuing this story so don't worry I just upload sporadically. I also plan on updating Tales from Purgatory before I work on this one again.

I think I'll work it by doing one chapter for Tales from Purgatory then switching back to this one for a chapter. I'll continue switching until Tales from Purgatory is over as that one will be shorter than this story.

Anyways, thank you for reading this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it!


	4. Chapter 3: A Grimm Encounter

Author's Note:

I know I said that I'd do another chapter for Tales from Purgatory before picking up this story again but I'm enjoying writing this story. I hope you can forgive me for delaying my other story.

The funny thing is, the real problem I'm having writing this story is a lack of a truly detailed timeline for RWBY. I have to make up when some of the events are happening without contradicting the canon or myself in the process.

Someone asked if I was including any mods from New Vegas for this story, I am not.

Also, some of you wanted to know the Courier's stats and inventory. I was initially nervous about doing this. I don't like to give out stats and weapons for two reasons. One, I like to show and not tell in the story but it also allows me to be slightly more flexible further down the line if I realize something is wrong.

However, I've read some of the reviews and have decided to partially go through with it. I will give a brief description of his inventory but I'm going to keep his stats a mystery for now. I don't want to bog down the story so all this information will be given at the end of the chapter.

I was also told that my story is similar to another "The Bringer of War." I found out that the beginning is (at least they both use the transportalponder to get to Remnant). However, I find that these two Courier's in past and attitude are different. I did, however, start binge reading it, it's a good story.

As I've put more effort into actually writing, I've realized I can't keep up with writing this and keep up with my life. Gone are the days I could write up a chapter, proofread, and upload on the same day. I like to believe this is because I've developed better standards since I've started. However, this has caused the problem of I can't keep taking hiatuses and expect to finish the story within the decade. I need a set schedule.

So, I'm going to leave it up to you the viewers. I'm going to ask this on all my stories (eventually) and let the commenters decide. Would you prefer I upload a 2,500-word chapter every week or a 10,000 chapter monthly? I'll probably give a month or so to gather a consensus after I've asked the question on my other stories as well.

" _Text_ "

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

 _Chapter 3: A Grimm_ Encounter

* * *

The smell of grease and gunpowder filled the small room the Courier had been staying in. Joshua was currently tinkering with his Pip-Boy and the scroll he had been given.

He had spent the last week or so breaking down and understanding the scroll while also using it to research the world around him. The Wastelander could never have imagined how connected this world was until he saw it. Information about an event was available near the moment it was happening as long as people posted the info online.

However, research on the world had become secondary as he focused on backward engineering the scroll and implementing its features into his Pip-Boy. The holographic display was an interesting feature of the scroll but not the most important. To the Courier having access to GPS and the information online from his Pip-Boy was an urgent task.

So far, he'd made good progress. The biggest difficulty had been how important dust was. So much technology ran off of dust but once one understood how the powder-like (and volatile) substance worked the technology was much like his own.

That was before and now he was able to completely take the scroll apart and put it back together. The next big problem and the one he was currently working on was the Pip-Boy itself. Compared to the scroll the Pip-Boy was clunky and archaic. Updating it was going to require taking it apart and revamping the entire user interface. The device mounted on his wrist was notorious for being sturdy and hard to break into which would pose further problems.

A knock at the door jostled him from his work. "Joshua, it's time to wake up." Carmine was already here?

Six worked through most nights as his enhancements meant he needed little to no sleep. With no windows in his small room, he must have worked through the night again without realizing it.

"Just a moment," Six replied as his hands went to work to put the scroll and his Pip-Boy back together. It wasn't that he thought the Spring family was untrustworthy. Joshua just knew better than to trust anyone with too much information.

There were a few moments of silence before he heard idle shuffling come from the other side of the door. "Papa said we need to go to the market today, we need to pick up some stuff and he wants it done by lunchtime." Carmine paused for a moment before continuing, "I'll be waiting by the door when you're ready."

Six heard the girl's footsteps fade as he put the two ends of the scroll together. With that done, he grabbed the bullets on his desk before dematerializing them. He had been working on these particular bullets for some time.

Six had acquired a few dust rounds from Richter and had taken the bullets apart. The former ruler of Vegas found that dust rounds were similar to his own bullets with the main difference being the replacement of gunpowder with dust.

Speaking of, dust itself was a strange compound. It could function as gunpowder, coal, and to generate electricity. It worked less like a normal substance and more like magic. He still wasn't sure how it worked but knew that it did.

He was skilled when it came to making his own bullets and the Courier was sure he could modify his guns to chamber dust rounds given time. He'd have to put more research into it later after he got the changes to his Pip-Boy done.

It wasn't an immediate concern but he did need to be able to use dust rounds. He had a limited supply of his own bullets and would eventually have to acquire ammo from this world.

Once Six had everything in order, he donned the Burned Man's armor before wrapping bandages around his head. Honestly, he thought the town would have taken it worse when an armed and masked stranger had entered their town. Either they didn't care or they were too scared to confront him. Joshua didn't mind as long as they didn't bother him.

The Courier winced as he opened the door. It took a few moments for him to blink and adjust to the sunlight pouring in through the windows. Getting out of his room was probably good for him.

The bandaged man had been doing favors and general chores for the Spring family and had so far been allowed to stay. The trip to the market today was one such favor.

His mind wandered to some of the information he had managed to gather about Remnant as he walked towards the door. This world's dependency on dust rivaled his own world's reliance on nuclear energy. Well, before the bombs dropped at least.

It was strange seeing technology somewhat similar to his own that ran entirely on dust as an energy source instead of electricity and nuclear power. It wasn't as strange as waking up in a new world but it meant he had to adapt.

"Hi Joshua," Carmine greeted with one raised hand. She didn't appear to be annoyed that he had made her wait. The girl was definitely more patient and mature than most of the children he had met and she hadn't grown up in the Wasteland to harden her.

"Carmine," he replied as he knelt down and began slipping his boots on. "How's your morning been?"

The red-headed girl paused for a moment in thought as her one eye glanced towards the ceiling. "It's been alright, this is the first chore that Papa gave me so hopefully it goes well." It was obvious that she wanted to make her Papa proud.

"We'll get it done," Six said as he stood up and moved towards the door. He opened it before looking back towards Carmine and continuing, "lead the way."

This probably wasn't going to be his only task today. Richter had realized early on that Six was a rather handy individual to have around. Part of the reason that the Courier had acquired dust rounds was that Carmine's father wanted him to help make more and sell them. The town's militia and guard used dust rounds but couldn't get a steady supply from the capital so it fell on Richter to supply them.

Six's mind wandered back to the present as he closed the door behind him. "What are we going to get," the bandaged man asked as he followed behind Carmine.

"Papa wants some food, supplies to fulfill an order, and more materials for dust rounds." The list Carmine told him was short but rather concerning.

"Does he often expect you to gather the items required to make dust bullets?" Joshua's words were phrased as a question but also held an accusation behind them.

The girl hummed to herself lightly. She seemed to be in a rather good mood today despite the people in town already staring at her. Her carefree attitude persisted as she replied, "no he usually doesn't but I'm getting to do more adult tasks lately. I think it's because you're around."

Richter expected the Courier to go with her. That made some sense at least, it gave him something to do and made her feel like she was doing something important.

"I assume he gave you Lien to purchase them," Six asked though he already knew the answer.

She turned to him momentarily to reply, "yep!"

Lien, an odd plastic-like currency that Vale used. It was like any other currency just made out of different material.

Speaking of Vale, he still didn't fully understand where he was. At first, he had immediately jumped to the conclusion that he was on an entirely different planet. That could still very much be the case but another theory was that this was Earth just millions of years in the future. He doubted the latter as the Transportalponder was meant to "transport" someone through space, not time. He still didn't fully understand how the device operated so it could, in theory, distort time as well.

At the end of the day, he still had too many questions and the only thing that could give him answers was currently in a sizzling mess. To top it off he didn't have the supplies and technology necessary to even attempt to repair it let alone backward engineer the damn thing. For now, he'd have to settle for hypotheticals until he could study the device more.

Six was jostled from his thoughts as the two entered the market to find it had remained much the same. It was still early enough that some of the stalls hadn't set up yet. Though this time he noticed that there were buildings that circled the market that had signs designating them as stores. It looked like the buildings were always open during business hours but the stalls would open later and close sooner than the stores.

Carmine led him to a stall that had fruits, vegetables, and other foods on display. The man working there was a younger looking man with bags under his eyes. The stranger yawned as they approached before giving them both a glance.

"The usual," the man asked already reaching down behind the stall.

Carmine nodded her head as he continued to rummage around. The Courier took note that she rarely spoke when interacting with other people.

It seemed like the man knew his companion so Six tuned out the rest of their short conversation though he did find it a bit strange that the man held no distrust towards the two of them. The tired stranger did look apathetic towards everything in life, that could explain a few things.

Six came back to reality when bags of groceries were handed over to him. "Carry these please," the girl said before leading him towards the next stall. Great, he was going to be her pack mule.

The next stand went by in a blur as he took note of the items she was getting. An assortment of leathers, metals, and was that some sort of synthetic fiber? It looked similar to Kevlar but broken down into its base components. Was the old man looking to make armor?

The process continued as she got a few items from each subsequent stand and all of them were geared towards self-defense. This got the Courier thinking about why the old man wanted all of these materials. It could be that Richter was stocking up on supplies for a long-term project but Six was starting to get weighed down with the amount he was carrying, something felt off.

The two approached one more stand and a familiar face greeted them. The Faunus he had seen roughly a week ago was here. To be honest, he had only left the house when Richter made him which meant that he barely knew anyone in the town outside the Spring family.

"Welcome," the woman began looking down at Carmine. "What can I get for you and your…" Her words trailed off as she glanced towards Six, "friend." Her awkward greeting was understandable as Joshua was not only covered in bandages but also staring directly at her ears.

The woman glanced away from him and did her best to ignore his staring. The Courier had tuned out their conversation as his mind got working again. He wasn't on his own world, he assumed, and that meant that radiation hadn't been the cause of her physical deviations from regular humans. What had caused such changes?

Realizing that he had been staring, he glanced away. Six had researched their kind and knew that they suffered from a colored history of discrimination against their race and staring could be seen as either strange or racist. Honestly, he couldn't even be sure they were the same species at this point.

Once the two were finished and Carmine had given the woman payment, the bat-eared Faunus leaned in before saying, "alright, you be careful now. We don't have long before the next Grimm attack."

Wait, what? There was going to be a Grimm attack? When and how did they know? Carmine simply nodded back before handing him another bag.

The two walked away as Carmine looked down at the list and said, "we just need to grab some dust from Scarred Tom and we can head home."

"What did she mean there's going to be a Grimm attack soon? Why is everyone acting so casual if there's going to be an attack?" He needed his questions answered now. It was bad enough he hadn't heard about this until just this moment.

Carmine tilted her head at him before responding, "you didn't know? I guess you are cooped up in your room a lot. We have people constantly patrolling the forest around our village." She tapped her chin before continuing, "I think papa said they saw a lot of Grimm recently which means there's going to be an attack soon."

"And no one is worried," Six replied before letting out a sigh. This town was strange, to say the least.

"We are, it's just we deal with these a lot, and it's not supposed to be here for at least a while. We have time to prepare." Her words weren't exactly comforting but at least Grimm wouldn't come knocking down his door in the middle of the night. That also explained why Richter was gathering materials for weapons and armor.

The green-eyed girl glanced towards Joshua before continuing, "if we're lucky, we can sometimes pay a Huntsman or Huntress to come and protect the town but they're expensive."

Joshua was going to ask why they were so expensive when he was interrupted. "We're here," the red-haired girl said as they approached a small building with the words "Tom's Dust Reserves" written on the front.

He needed to make preparations as well if this attack was going to be soon. He needed to have a few words with Richter when he got back about important information being passed to him.

The pair entered the store to meet a man in his early thirties with a single scar running across his forehead. That was it? That tiny little thing got him the nickname "Scarred Tom." Six was glad no one had seen his face yet.

"What're you lookin' for," the man greeted in a low raspy voice staring straight at Six. The man's eyes drifted towards the girl before a sneer crossed his face. "Dust I'm guessin' for your old man."

Carmine opened her mouth to respond before the man cut her off, "don't bother, just pay me and get out." Tom placed several glowing vials on the counter containing dust. It was obvious he wanted their Lien but held disdain for the girl.

She nodded her head before placing the Lien on the counter and grabbing the containers. Carmine turned away before walking past the Courier who in turn glanced between the man and her.

Normally, it was really none of his business to get involved with the girl's reputation, but seeing as how he owed their family he might as well do something about it.

Tom had already turned away, perfect. He waited for Carmine to leave before a knife embedded itself into the counter where the Lien lay splitting a piece in two.

The scarred man jumped and turned to him before responding, "what's wrong with you?"

He had made grown men and trained rangers alike shit their pants. This idiot would be no different.

"Listen here shitwad, I don't give a damn about what you think of the girl." Six's other hand moved to his side as he pulled out Maria and aimed it at Tom's head before continuing, "next time you disrespect her like that I'll make sure that you, your dust, and this entire store disappears." Joshua pulled the blade out of the counter before saying, "understood?"

In Tom's defense, he hadn't pissed himself. One moment everything had been fine, then it felt like the room had chilled several degrees and a voice that he swore sounded like crackling fire threatened him. It was as if a Terrifying Presence had filled his shop. "U-Understood," he managed to stutter out before the now seemingly mountain-like man.

"Good, don't make me come back," Joshua said as he put Maria away and walked out.

Everyone needed to fall in line and those that didn't either need to be made to or die. You either stood with the Courier or lay in your grave. If he did end up coming back, Tom would find himself dealing with the latter.

It appeared that he hadn't drawn attention to himself as no one was staring at him as he left the store. All except for Carmine who gave him a curious glance before asking, "what were you talking to Tom about?"

"Nothing important, just business deals and the like," Six responded while walking past her. He didn't lie per se, to him it wasn't very important, and if she knew about it, she would just cause problems. "What's next?"

Carmine looked away from him and glanced off towards the woods while she hummed. "It's not something Papa told me to do but I'd like to go get some flowers and berries from the woods. And since it won't be safe for me to go by myself…"

Joshua rolled his eyes; he knew what she was getting at. "And you need me to keep you safe while you do so." His answer brought a smile to the girl's face.

"Yep," the girl replied before stepping in front of him. "Ready?"

Six sighed before answering, "sure why not."

* * *

It took the two of them roughly ten or so minutes of quiet walking to get to the edge of the woods where the flowers and berries grew. They had left the town through one of the main gates and now stood in a small clearing.

"How long have you been picking berries for your father," the Courier asked with one hand close to his holster. He wanted to make sure nothing snuck up on them.

The red-haired girl picked a berry and held it up for inspection while she responded, "awhile. I noticed Papa perked up when he got his favorite berries, and Papa was very sad for a long time, so I decided to make him happy again."

"Why're they his favorite," the Courier asked more to make small-talk than actually being curious.

The girl went quiet for a few moments as she put the berry into her basket. Six could feel the air slightly sour as she replied, "mama used to make his favorite pie with them. I think berries remind Papa of her."

Six cast an idle glance towards her before turning back to his perimeter sweep. He wasn't going to pry into her personal business. "It's always nice to help out people when you can." His words were slightly bitter as he thought back on those he had trusted, those that had betrayed him.

"Did you help people where you came from?" Her question wasn't meant to be an attack on his character but it felt cutting to the Courier. He had been doing his best to squash down thoughts of the Mojave since he had gotten here. There wasn't much he could do at the moment without proper equipment so it was better to prepare for what this world would throw at him.

"Once, though I'm sure there are people who would argue otherwise," Six said a small smirk forming on his face. Perhaps cracking the Mojave like he had the Divide wasn't the best idea in hindsight but in his defense, he hadn't been thinking clearly. Having everyone you trusted either die or betray you could do that to a man.

The confused look the girl gave him at his answer told him he was probably going to have to explain more. Six took in a breath before continuing, "I wasn't always the nicest person where I'm from. I did my best to do what I thought was right and for what people needed. Not everyone else felt the way I went about it was right."

"Why do you always play word games," Carmine asked a slight frown crossing her face. "You're always evasive and try to answer questions without really answering them."

A chuckle escaped Joshua's lips as he turned to her. "Everyone has secrets Carmine, I'm sure there are things you don't want to tell me either," he replied knowing full well about a good chunk of her past.

The red-haired girl shrugged before putting more flowers and berries into her basket. It was nice to get out and have a few moments to just relax and contemplate.

"I'm tired a lot," Carmine said to break the silence. "I don't really know why but everything makes me feel tired. I think Papa is tired a lot too." The bandage-wrapped man looked her over. She was still picking berries but a distant expression had crossed her face.

"You just have to keep going," Six replied as he took a few steps towards her. "You'll find that there will be a lot of moments where you're tired for lots of reasons. The important thing is that you keep moving forward," Joshua said before placing a hand on her head. He had a fair idea about why she was tired. Carmine turned her head to him before giving Six a small smile.

Unfortunately, the moment was spoiled by a small tremor that shook the ground beneath them. That was weird, Six didn't know the area was prone to quakes.

Joshua was about to comment on it when a ringing sound came out from the town and interrupted Six's thoughts. Carmine's head shot up towards the town and the worry on her face told Joshua that this wasn't any regular bell.

"We have to get back to the town," she said standing straight up. Carmine lost a few of the berries from her basket in her hurry to get going. "That's the bell for a Grimm attack."

The Courier knelt down in front of the girl motioning for her to get on his back as he replied, "I thought they weren't supposed to show up for a few days?" He decided that Carmine was more important than the groceries he had been carrying and left them.

"I thought so too," she replied while getting onto his back. The basket hung just in front of Six's chest as the one-eyed child wrapped her arms around his chest.

"We sho—," Six began before being cut off by gunfire from the town. It sounded like the Grimm had already arrived. His feet moved with speed most would be surprised by. Six could outrun even the fastest triathlon runners thanks to the modifications in his body.

Six didn't dare look back or slow down and only stopped when he was in front of the gate. He turned back taking in a few deep breaths as he saw a group of Grimm—Beowolves he believed—burst from the tree line they were just at.

"Let us in now," the Courier shouted at the guard on the other side of the wall.

There were a few moments of silence before the guard replied back, "I can't, town is on lockdown an-."

"Let me in or I'll skin you alive and prop you up on this gate for your family to see," Six threatened as he gave one kick to the gate cracking some of the wood.

"Fine, shit," the guard called back as the gate slowly began to open. Six took a quick glance back to see the Grimm closing in on them quickly. The gate wouldn't open fast enough.

The Butcher of House set Carmine down before saying, "slip through when it opens." He didn't give her time to reply as he materialized the Survivalist Rifle in his hands. This thing did the most damage in the shortest amount of time. It was the best weapon he currently had for swarms of enemies. Too bad it ate through ammo.

At first, he fired in small bursts at the approaching Grimm. They were far enough away that he didn't want to waste any bullets. It took roughly a third of his magazine to take one Beowolf down. Unfortunately, there was a decent sized group of the beasts and even after killing six of them there were still too many. The doors were now open.

"Close the gate," Six shouted as he held the trigger down while backing up. He ended up killing a few more beasts before the gate finally closed in front of him. The loud thuds that came from the Grimm ramming themselves into the gate were worrying. He grabbed one of his frag grenades before climbing up a ladder on one of the towers overlooking the gate.

Even as he climbed, he could see the gate slowly being chipped away. The corners were already splintering and Grimm were sticking their heads and clawed hands through.

"Get away from the gate," he shouted out as he pushed his way past a guard in the tower. He pulled the pin on his grenade before throwing it over the wall and into the group of Grimm.

Joshua turned his head and quickly scanned the crowd before spotting Carmine standing behind a few of the guards a good distance away.

A loud explosion rung out as the grenade went off taking a good chunk of Grimm with it. The grenade had blown away a large part of the already damaged gate as well. There were sizeable holes that Grimm could spill through now if more arrived.

The Courier looked down at his Pip-Boy before scrolling through its settings. His hands were a bit sweaty now and he had to wipe them on his sleeves before finding what he was looking for. Six flipped a setting to "ON" and he could see his compass at the top of his vision. His eyes were linked to his Pip-Boy and the modifications made it so his compass could be displayed through his eyes.

The red markers seemed to be surrounding the entire town. What was even more alarming was that there were still markers that pointed to the other side of the gate and along the wall near it.

"There's still more of them," Six called out as the first Beowolf began crawling through a hole in the gate. The scratching and thudding from the doors were greatly diminished and a second glance at his compass told Joshua all that he needed.

He hopped down from his perch as the guards lined up and opened fire. The Grimm fell quickly under their combined fire. A few more attempted the same thing and met the same fate. It seemed the Grimm weren't intelligent enough to go for another part of the wall.

The Beowolves here were effectively weakened and now funneled to the point that Six predicted they would have little trouble. He moved over towards Carmine before crouching down and asking, "are you ok?"

The girl nodded but had retreated back into her "shy" state. It was apparent she was scared and didn't want to talk. "Get on my back again," he said crouching down once more. She silently obeyed and once she was on his back they took off.

Six didn't spare a glance back towards the guards as he continued towards the Spring home. On the way, he could see families barricading their doors and windows while others sprinted down the street to better fortified buildings. It looked like the town hall was being reinforced for civilians.

Joshua paused his running before turning and making a dash towards the town hall. It only took him a few moments before he approached the front doors of the building. He was greeted by a large group of people shuffling inside and a few guards to hurry them along.

The sounds of people cursing at him as he pushed past the civilians didn't stop Six. He made his way over to one of the guards before setting Carmine down. "I need you to be brave and go with this man inside the building ok?" Six's request was spoken sternly as he knelt down next to her. He did his best to tone down the intensity of his voice but he was used to intimidating people into doing what he wanted.

Nodding her head in response, Carmine looked up at the guard while Six did the same. The two looks varied greatly, Carmine's being worried and uncertain, while the Courier's promised pain and death should the guard fail.

"You can take care of her, right," Six asked his tone lowering to a quiet level as he stood to meet the guard.

A quick glance away from him told Joshua all he needed to know. This guy would fall in line. "Of course, sir," the guard replied trying to maintain some semblance of order and professionalism while Six eyed him.

The guy was blonde or at least Joshua thought he was from the small tuffs of hair coming out from under his helmet. He was on the younger side for a guard but that just meant he could be intimidated easier.

Six turned back towards Carmine before placing a hand on her head and saying, "stay safe. Don't do anything stupid or heroic. I'll be back when this mess is over."

"You promise," the red-haired girl spoke in a quiet tone. It was apparent she was uncomfortable with being left to a stranger while Grimm attacked. He wasn't often in the business of making promises but he could make an exception just this once.

"Promise," he replied patting her head a few times before turning away. Six shot the guard one last menacing glance before running towards the northern gate.

If any of the gates fell, Grimm would flood the town and he'd have to worry about civilian casualties. He couldn't be everywhere at once so he'd have to be quick and secure them one at a time. Since he already had one cleared, he'd just have to focus on the three other gates.

Joshua paused his running to quickly duck behind Tom's shop. He was going to need the best armor he could muster at the moment. The Courier was practiced when it came to changing in the field and in a few moments the Burned Man's Armor had been dematerialized and a menacing figure with glowing red eyes stepped out from behind the building.

The Elite Riot Gear was going to be useful for fighting off the Grimm. He didn't lose much mobility and he'd be damn hard to kill in his current armor. The other features the helmet offered—such as night vision—weren't useful for now.

It took him only a couple of minutes at most to reach the north gate but it looked like he was still slower than he wanted to be. The guards here were struggling which was evident enough by the wounded that had pulled back.

The gate looked like it was about to completely collapse and the panicked firing of the three remaining guards didn't look like it was really helping all that much. Six didn't want to waste another grenade but the sounds of the gate nearly crumbling left him little choice.

Another explosion later and the guards looked to him with grateful expressions. He wasn't in the mood however, there were still other gates that needed help. Joshua checked his compass again and noticed strange movement from the Grimm.

The red markers were circling away from the current gate. Six's eyes tracked the Grimm as they moved away from the two gates he had been to. Weren't Grimm supposed to be unintelligent creatures that didn't form cohesive battle strategies?

In fact, his eyes moved towards the Eastern gate and saw that the large clump of markers were moving south as well. Joshua's eyes widened in alarm as he realized they were all going to concentrate on the gate furthest from him.

His legs had only taken a few steps when he spotted two other things. The first was a guard running towards his gate, it looked like a scout of some sort. The second was Richter stepping out of his home with a few weapons in hand.

The scout stopped in front of the group of guards before asking a flurry of questions ranging from, "what's your status," to, "how many Grimm are left?"

Six approached the scout before saying, "trooper, we've got an issue."

The brown-haired bear Faunus from what six could tell turned to him before narrowing his eyes. "That would be," the guard asked while eyeing him. It was obvious this guy had an issue with him.

"The Grimm are moving away from the other gates and are concentrating on the southern gate. All of them," Six explained glaring back at the guard.

The frown and raised eyebrow told Six all he needed as the scout replied, "and why would they? Grimm never give up the attack once they start."

Six took a step forward before grabbing the scout by the collar and pulling him closer. The red visors were pressed close to the guard's face as he said, "I don't give a shit what you think, either report it to your superior or not. I'm heading for the southern gate."

He didn't give the guard time to reply as he shoved him back before running towards Richer. "Carmine is in town hall right now, they're reinforcing that position," Joshua said as he approached.

"Alright, as long as she's safe. Listen, I have these weapons that could be used by the guards," Richter replied holding up an assortment of blades and guns. "I can't exactly bring these to them because of…" The older man let his sentence trail off as he looked down.

There was a pause for a few moments as Six decided on what needed to be done. "Give me the gear, take this so I can carry it," he replied materializing and handing over some of his weapons and armor so he could carry Richter's weapons. "And don't ask about this now." He was not in the mood to explain how dematerialization worked.

The Courier turned away before Richter called out, "wait. There's something else."

"Hurry up Richter, I don't have time, I told that scout to get a message to his boss. Gather all the forces to the southern gate and I need to be there." It wasn't that he didn't like the old man but he was in a hurry.

"I saw it," Richter began as he clenched a fist. "I saw the small Grimm again. The one that took my wife, it's here so be careful."

The former ruler of Vegas turned to Carmine's father and said, "I'll keep an eye out. If I see it, it's dead." With everything said, Six began sprinting through town.

Everything became secondary as he moved with inhuman speed to his target. Stalls were knocked over, people were pushed, and he made a few jumps higher than any normal human should be able to.

Within a few minutes, he had crossed the entire town to the southern side to see a bad scenario. The Grimm had already partially gathered and the gate was bending inwards from the sheer force. That was when Six felt the first drop of rainfall on him. When had the sky darkened so much?

As it began lightly raining, Six moved to each of the guards quickly handing ammo and weapons. Most looked grateful, some gave him strange looks, and a few were panicking. He didn't have time to rally them.

The Courier pulled out his Survivalist Rifle as things went from bad to worse. It was only now that he noticed a small figure crouched near the gate. With the number of red markers gathered, he hadn't seen it at first with his compass.

A few seconds of staring and he was able to discern that it was, in fact, a Grimm. It was small in stature just barely taller than a human. Crouched over like it was made it look about the size of Carmine. It was pitch black like all Grimm were but it looked like a tall and gaunt human with claws. It was standing right next to the lever for the gate.

"Kill that Grimm," Six shouted as he aimed his weapon at it. The creature turned and almost seemed to smirk at Joshua. It pulled the lever and all hell broke loose.

A few rounds penetrated the Grimm causing the grin to slip from its face as the creature let out a screech before scampering up and over the wall. The gate was then flung open as a larger Grimm charged in. Six guessed it was an Alpha Beowolf from his research.

The thing towered over its brethren at nearly twelve feet tall. It didn't roar, threaten, or stop. It charged in before picking up one of the guards and tearing him in two. Blood, screaming, and viscera soon filled the area as the Courier began backpedaling.

Six stopped himself when he realized that without this line of defense the town would be overrun which would make routing the Grimm that much harder. "Fall back!" The Courier hoped that his words were heard as he pulled out his gauss rifle variant the "186." He'd have to hold the Grimm off for the guards to fall back.

The former Ruler of Vegas was interested in how well a Grimm would hold up to a gauss rifle and this was the perfect opportunity. The only real downside of his variant weapon was that it was slightly heavier than the standard Gauss rifle. This was outweighed in every other aspect by increased damage, increased durability, and decreased ammo consumption.

So, when he fired the first shot with some of his few remaining max charge microfusion cells, Six was hoping for great things. He was both disappointed and impressed by the results.

A large smoking and sizzling green hole punctured the center of the beast, that was the good part. The not good part was that the thing was still alive. The monster let out an unearthly howl as it turned on Six and backhanded him with force.

The Courier was pushed back a few feet and into the ground doing his best to maintain his hold on the rifle. He let out a few coughs and wheezes as he hoisted his weapon up and aimed at the Grimm again. Time seemed to slow for the Courier as VATS (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) kicked in.

The Alpha was still charging at Six and he needed to take it out now. Instead of aiming for the thing's gut like before he shifted his focus upwards. Its head was right in his sights as he fired a charged gauss rifle shot. The disintegration of the creature's head followed by the subsequent dissolving of its body was satisfying.

The rain was starting to come down harder now as the dirt beneath Six's back started turning into mud. He pushed himself to his feet as more Grimm started charging towards him. One glance backward revealed that the militia that survived had fallen back to a position further behind him. They were almost set up and prepared for another wave, he just had to buy them a few more moments.

His Survivalist rifle materialized in his hands as he placed a few mines in front of him while backing up. The rounds that flew from his gun shortly after slowed the horde of Grimm for a few moments before they met his mines. The first went off taking a few Grimm with it and stopping the rest.

Six paused his running to stare as the Grimm tilted their heads to the side almost seeming to be listening to something. Their attention turned back to him as the Grimm split off in three directions.

The Courier cursed as he realized what they were doing. Since they had entered the town, they could break off and try to use the buildings around as cover. One group was heading towards him still but the other two went to both sides.

His attention was focused on the most direct threat for now as he continued his backpedaling and firing. The last two mines went off taking another handful or two of Grimm with them. Six glanced back to see that the guards were finally organized.

The gun in his hands disappeared as he turned his back to the Grimm and ran. His inhuman speed meant that he kept just ahead of the Grimm and managed to jump over the small barricade the guards had erected before they fired upon the beasts.

The group of Grimm that had been following the Courier including the Alpha was mowed down by the sheer combined firepower of the defensive line. Six glanced around as he realized there were more guards in this line than just the survivors at the southern gate. He was thankful for whoever got the militia here in gear and diverted troops from the other gates to this location.

"We've got more," Six explained as he brushed some of the mud off his armor. "Two groups went east and west once they got past the ga—," the Courier was cut off once more as the defensive line was rushed by Grimm from the right side.

It appeared that one of the groups had circled around and hit their position from the flank. Even still, a few of the guards on the right had managed to get some rounds off killing a few of the Grimm before being ripped to bloody shreds.

Six's survivalist rifle appeared back in his hands as he began firing. He knew they'd probably get through this as long as no Alphas appeared. Unfortunately for him, the large Grimm that barreled out of the alley at him was very angry.

There were a few moments of panicked screaming as the militia line collapsed and gave way to panic. A loud bark issued out, "far side, line up and fire, everyone else fall back!" The Courier didn't have time to see who had issued the order but the hail of bullets that came and cut down a good portion of the Grimm was fine by him.

His own gun fired at the Alpha littering it with bullets but the damn thing kept coming at him. It swiped at him and he narrowly avoided its paw. All he could do in turn was continue firing as the Grimm was too close for any explosives.

More rounds penetrated its hide before it turned and lunged at him this time connecting. Six was forced to the ground as the Alpha's jaw bit down on his shoulder. He could feel its teeth threatening to completely shatter his collar and even felt the bone fracture.

He let out a pained yelp before thrusting the barrel of his weapon to the side of its head before holding the trigger. The kick from the gun hurt his arm but he didn't stop until the Grimm's grip on his shoulder went slack and it started dissolving.

The Courier got to his feet before spotting a rather large man stomping the last Grimm to death. A hood covered the man's head but the Courier could see the large scar running along the bottom of his face as the man turned towards him. Six figured this was the guy that had issued that order.

"You're that new fella, the one that's living with the Springs, right?" The man's question made it obvious he was suspicious of him. Joshua couldn't blame him; a stranger shows up in your town and takes care of droves of Grimm singlehandedly, he'd be suspicious too.

A shrug was the response the hooded man received as Six moved away. He needed to find that other group of Grimm. "I am, and you're welcome," Six replied not having time to humor the man for now.

The Courier figured that answer would satisfy the large man for now and turned away. The compass near the top of his vision indicated that the Grimm were still very much on the move. From the direction they were heading and his knowledge of the town Six gathered they were heading to the town hall. If they got there, the civilians would become a buffet for the Grimm. A small tremor rippled through the town and Six knew something was wrong but he had other priorities for now.

"I'm not do—," Six heard as he took off. The Grimm were fast but they weren't taking the optimal route since they had to divert around the barricade. The implications of the new tactics these Grimm were employing were disturbing and he couldn't recall anything he'd read so far that implied they had this level of communication. Likewise, the guards seemed to be befuddled by the attitude change in the Grimm. Either something was wrong or everyone was lying to him; either way, he wasn't happy.

A dash through an alley, hopping over debris, pushing a running guard; the Courier employed all of these and more in his attempt to get ahead of the Grimm. It looked like the rush was paying off as he came out onto a street next to the town hall.

The last of his mines were used to create a small line of defense here as well. Joshua set himself up behind the mines and against the side of the building. He would be the last line of defense if necessary.

"Hey, what're you doing," came a voice from above the Courier as he glanced upwards. It was that blonde guard from before. Wasn't he supposed to be guarding the building? Maybe they were guarding the building from the inside.

Either way, Six didn't have time to stop and think about it as he shouted back, "get your weapon ready, we've got Grimm incoming!"

The former ruler of Vegas didn't give the guard time to respond as he materialized his modified gauss rifle. He just had to take out a few before they reached the mines.

The twenty or so Grimm that came over were masked by the unnatural darkness that had descended over the town. The rain that had been pouring seemed to be storming down now. The darkest clouds the Courier had ever seen blotted out the sun and even his enhanced senses couldn't see anything outside the town.

He raised his gauss rifle and fired away at the first few Grimm in sight. The smaller ones went down to even his regular charge rounds. The last of the Alphas was another problem as the first mine was triggered.

A small explosion rang out as Six saw the guard open fire on the Grimm he could now see. Joshua wasn't sure why dust rounds were as effective as they were. Their overall velocity, impact, and penetration were pitifully weak when compared to his own weapons. However, they seemed to tear through Grimm with efficiency he didn't expect. All of Six's research on the subject had only drawn him to the conclusion that the dust in the bullets made them more effective against Grimm. Hell, he doubted they could effectively penetrate anything beyond flesh.

Still, his firing combined with the guard's and the mines had already managed to take out over half the Grimm. Six was itching to watch the Grimm run into the rest of his mines when a large bolt of lightning lit up the sky and the area surrounding the town before he saw something.

A large shadow, taller than any of the previous Grimm he had encountered towered in the distance. It resembled a dragon to a degree but the length of it was too snake like and the body was overly long. Its tail was longer than its torso only equaled in length by its neck. The pitch-black form of this monstrous sized Grimm was topped off with an enormous head. Its glowing red eyes seemed to stare directly at him and the Courier wouldn't lie that he was a tad nervous.

The unearthly howl that escaped its maw resonated through the town and was the last thing the Courier heard or saw from the beast before the light faded, leaving him in slight fear of the darkness that surrounded the town.

Six didn't even have time to turn his weapon on the remaining Grimm before a large tremor almost knocked him off his feet. There were a few moments of Joshua almost losing his footing before it ceased.

An eruption of dirt, mud, and rubble exploded from the town hall as half the building exploded from the inside out. The guard fell from his perch and Six couldn't help but shout, "son of a bitch," before hitting the ground.

He quickly turned over and glanced upwards to see another monstrosity. A Grimm in the shape of a massive worm was halfway out of the ground and still towering over the town hall. It was pitch-black like the rest of its brethren but remained silent except for the sounds of the ground being crushed wherever it turned. If Joshua had to guess, he'd say the thing was at least half as thick as the town hall itself. A cursory glance gave the Courier the impression that it had no eyes so he only had guesses as to how it knew where its prey was.

Then he finally glanced towards the building and a pit of worry grew inside Six's stomach. He needed to check on Carmine. A loud explosion from behind him reminded the Courier that there were still threats.

The Butcher of House turned his attention back towards the now deemed nuisance before opening fire. One mine went off, then the second, now he only had one more mine still on the ground. He opened fire on the smaller Grimm approaching dispatching them as the Alpha charged.

Six did not have time for this and sidestepped the first swipe before kicking the thing's leg with all his might. The cybernetically enhanced limb bent the creature's leg inwards before he pushed it with all his strength.

The Grimm tipped over and landed on the mine. The explosion that followed wasn't enough to kill the Grimm but it did severely injure it and blow off the monster's arm. It tried to rise to its feet again before being met by a boot to its back. Six held it down before firing a final shot into the thing's head.

He turned back to spot the giant worm barreling forward and destroying another house nearby, hopefully a family wasn't in that one. It didn't matter, he needed to check on Carmine. The rumbling began once again as Joshua moved towards the partially intact side of the town hall.

"Carmine," he called out hopping through a broken window. "Where are you?" He stopped and listened for any response but all he could hear were the cries for help and the moans of pain from the survivors. Six spotted the blonde guard without his helmet now lightly bleeding from somewhere on his head. Apparently, the man decided he still needed to evacuate survivors as he was moving a mother and her child out of the building.

Six didn't have time to help as he turned and moved further into the wreckage. "Carmine," he shouted kicking a desk out of his way.

He heard a small whimper come from somewhere further in, "Joshua." The green marker on his compass and his improved hearing made it an easy task to close in on the small girl.

"Carmine," Six said once more as he approached the red-haired girl. She was stuck under a larger piece of wood that had fallen on her and pinned the girl's arm. There wasn't a moment of hesitation as the Courier threw the wood off her before kneeling down.

His arms wrapped under the girl's legs and shoulders as he hoisted her up before asking, "where does it hurt?"

Carmine pointed to her left arm and let out another small whimper. "I can't move it very well." At her words, Six glanced towards the offending limb before stopping and looking it over. With his medicinal knowledge, he was fairly sure that it was just a sprained shoulder, not even dislocated. It looked like she had made it out lucky. Well, lucky as she could be in this situation.

"It's just sprained, don't use it much and it should heal fine," he replied before carrying her out of the building. He ignored anyone else that needed help; to him they weren't worth even a quarter of what she was. Besides he was sure that blonde guard would get them out.

The girl hugged him tightly while he glanced back as the worm burst out of the ground again taking another house with it. He couldn't leave it or there was a likely chance it would hit the Spring household. He couldn't allow that.

A familiar looking bear Faunus was running towards him probably intent on rallying with his fellow guards. Six stopped him by stepping in the way. "Take her to the Spring homestead or I'll make you and your family wish that the Grimm had gotten to you," The Butcher of House spoke as he tried to hand over his charge.

Unfortunately, the girl remained latched on to him obviously scared. The Courier let out a clicking noise as the guard glared daggers at him. "I need you to go with him, I need to go take care of the worm." His words didn't seem to soothe the girl as she clung tighter to him.

"Don't go, not like her," Carmine whispered back and caused Six to bite his lip under his helmet. He wasn't sure how he was going to convince both of them to go to Richter but he had to.

He took in a long breath and kicked the Faunus in the leg as the guard tried to interrupt Six. "I won't, and even if I do, I'll pull myself out of hell to come back to you," he replied hoping his words would placate her.

She looked up at him with her eye and gave him a sorrowful look that he could feel even behind his mask. "I'm invincible, remember that," the Courier lied to soothe her fears. She glanced downwards before leaning in and resting her head against his armored chest. The red-haired girl slowly nodded her head and Joshua carefully handed her over to the bear Faunus who at this point understood what Six was trying to do.

At the guard's curious glance, Six reached behind his back before materializing some C4 and pulling it out for the guard to see. "Explosives," he whispered before the guard gave a shrug and moved off. At least she was safe for now and he could deal with the worm.

Worm wasn't really a good name, what was that poem he had read during his youth? It was a darker one about a… Conqueror Worm. He'd call it the Conqueror for short.

This was going to be stupidly dangerous and he was going to need to be very fast. The thing didn't stay above ground for long. He moved towards the last direction he had spotted it.

It didn't remain hidden and it was hard not to spot the massive explosion of wood as another house was destroyed. He moved towards it as the creature seemed to glance from side to side. The thing was probably the length of the town if he didn't know any better. He bet the structural integrity of the entire town was looking bad.

He ran past a few injured guards before coming across the same hooded man as before. The guard now sported a large piece of wood sticking out of his arm. "It's you," the scarred guard greeted as Six drew closer.

"Yeah, me, tell your men to back up." Six's command didn't seem to sit well with the guard as the large man stepped in front of him.

The hood came off to reveal grey hair and an aged face underneath. The older man held up a hand as he replied, "there's no way you're taking that thing alone." Six didn't have time for this.

The former ruler of Vegas rushed at the man before grabbing the guard's arm and pulling him forward. The next few seconds were a blur as Six turned and used the guard's forward momentum to toss the man over his shoulder. The older guard landed with a loud thud on his back and let out a few moans as Joshua was already on the move.

His legs carried him as fast as they could to reach the base of the Conqueror. The worm didn't seem too worried about the lone figure. He didn't know if it didn't notice him or didn't care but he'd make it pay. He placed the first explosive on its side and moved to place the next. He wanted to get four set along the width of the worm and set it off.

It was after a few short moments that he managed to plant the second, then the third. The ground started to rumble once more as the Conqueror began moving. He couldn't afford for it to go underground again as it would either knock the C4 off or destroy it.

A quick sprint to the side brought Six to the last target but the Grimm was now moving up most likely planning on diving back into the ground. He was forced to leap upwards and onto the side of the Grimm.

This was the first time he had truly gotten a feel for the makeup of Grimm skin and he couldn't say he was pleased. The dark "skin" was gritty and flaky to the touch and almost felt like he was digging his hands into hardened and condensed ash.

The Courier slammed the explosive onto the last spot while the worm was diving. Six looked down to realize he was mid-arch and now descending towards the ground at an uncomfortable rate. Thinking on pure instinct and not having the time he leapt and triggered the explosive.

He was too close to the explosive and traveling far too fast towards the ground. The first thing he noticed was the explosion tearing through his armor, charring his skin, and blowing chunks out of his arm. The second thing he noticed was that this also knocked him off course for the ground.

Six was unable to correct himself in the short few seconds he had in the air and landed on his leg at an odd angle. He let out a pained scream as his reinforced leg bent at an awkward angle and he collapsed.

His breathing was labored as he rolled himself over. The Courier glanced upwards to see two separate halves of the Grimm dissolving before they hit the ground. A smile crossed Joshua's face before he let out a hiss.

First thing was first, Six injected himself with a stimpak to his arm to repair the initial holes and burn damage. It wasn't perfect but it would mean he could use his arm and save his other stimpaks for later.

The Courier's mind traveled elsewhere while he propped his broken leg up. That Grimm that was outside town hadn't attacked like the rest. Something was definitely off about it just like the small gremlin creature, the tactics the Grimm were employing, and that massive worm. It all seemed too out of place to have them all randomly attack and use seemingly intelligent tactics against them.

That dragon-like Grimm actually reminded him of a Norse legend, or was it a god? His memory was a bit fuzzy on the subject right now but he did his best to recall the anglicized name. The Courier snapped his leg back into position as he finally remembered, Nidhogg. He let out a pained yelp before taking in a few deep breaths. Six decided to call the creature that for now until he could come up with something better.

Relief flooded his system as he injected a stimpak into the offending limb. His leg wasn't perfect but he could at least limp on it for now. Honestly, he wasn't sure if a stimpak could have healed a regular broken leg like that. If he didn't have enhanced legs and a regenerative factor, well he didn't like to think about it.

Six planned on saving his other stimpaks for when he truly needed them by healing naturally. Now he just needed to get back and check on the Spring family. The sky was clearing now and it looked like most of the clouds from the storm had disappeared. Something was definitely off with the sudden appearance and subsequent disappearance of the bad weather.

A now annoying face stood in his way though this time backed up by militia. The grey-haired man stood in front of Six with his arms crossed and a disgruntled expression on his face.

"You want to explain how you did that," the man asked tilting his head to the side.

"Not particularly, and since I just saved all of you, I don't think you'll stop me." Joshua knew his response probably annoyed the guard but he was too tired to care. He gave the guard a glare as he limped past the man who in turn rolled his eyes.

"Fine but you'll have to explain yourself to the captain later," the older man replied turning and walking away himself. "It's not like I have to try and explain all of this to her anyways," he complained as Joshua continued limping.

The trip to the Spring household was longer this time and Six got to take all of the sights in. It looked like a few of the guards had gotten surprised by the Grimm that had slipped in because there were some familiar looking bodies sprawled out in the street.

Buildings and dirt alike also lay on the ground as Joshua spotted the remains of several buildings that were likely destroyed by the Conqueror. He really hoped there weren't more Grimm like that out there.

The Courier approached the thankfully intact house that Carmine lived in before stopping. He stretched and did his best to compose himself before entering.

He was greeted to the sight of a tired looking Richter with his daughter on his lap. The girl had curled herself up and was making herself as small as possible until she spotted Six.

"Joshua," she muttered out while slowly getting off her father's lap. The one-eyed girl made her way over to the still armored Six who did his best to maintain his stoic position. He had to prove to her that he was invincible, that nothing could stop him, so she wouldn't have to worry about him.

The girl gave him a tired look before wrapping her arms around his waist before saying, "never go."

"Of course," he replied before placing a hand on her head. "Don't you remember? I'm invincible." The Courier could feel Carmine nod her head as she hugged him. He took in a few moments to relax before saying, "now if you don't mind, I want to get some rest. It's been a long day."

Six yawned as she pulled away. "If you want, we can go pick berries tomorrow," he continued as he turned away from her. Joshua waved at Richter who gave him a small nod.

His steps felt heavier than usual as Six made his way towards his room. He entered before closing the door behind him. The Courier let out a long sigh as he leaned against the door. A lot of that had been an act, he desperately needed sleep right now.

Although this did remind him of home. He couldn't count the number of times he had gotten in a major fight just to go somewhere safe and sleep.

The armor he was wearing dematerialized as the former ruler Vegas made his way towards his bed. The last thought he had was how he forgot the groceries outside town before his head hit the pillow.

* * *

Courier "Joshua" Six

Real Name: Unknown

Aliases: Courier Six, Six, The End, Ruler of Vegas, Butcher of House, Bane of the Legion, Brotherhood Heretic, Boomer Tyrant, Executioner of the Powder Gangers, King Butcher, Bringer of the Apocalypse, Bear Hunter, Wild Card King, Joshua.

Gender: Male

Race: Caucasian

Equipment:

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear

Modified Stealth Suit Mk. II

Light Shining in Darkness

Mysterious Magnum

Rebreather

Maria

Survivalist Rifle

Modified Anti-Material Rifle.

YCS/186 Gauss Rifle variant.

C4 – Plastic explosives (10)

Detonator.

Frag Grenades (10)

Frag Mines (0)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Personally, I always found that after the first season of RWBY Grimm stopped being very threatening. I'm going to do my best to keep the Grimm as a legitimate threat throughout the story. This might mean I deviate from established RWBY canon for the Grimm and introduce variations.

This has been the longest outro and chapter I've ever written; I hope you've liked it! Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 4: The Past and the Future

Author's Note:

These next few chapters are going to be a bit shorter but I plan to post them all together.

" _Text_ "

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

 _Chapter 4: The Past and the Future_

* * *

Light humming emanated from Joshua's room in the Spring household as Carmine approached. The girl wasn't sure what she was going to say or ask when she entered but a feeling had gripped her recently that she needed to get off her chest.

For the past two days since the Grimm attack, she hadn't spoken to anybody outside of her father and even then, it was passing talks. A lot of unpleasant memories had resurfaced since the attack and she wasn't sure how to deal with it. One thing that confused her remained on her mind, Joshua.

Carmine didn't feel like he was a stranger anymore but at the same time, she knew so little about him. He was always secretive and didn't often like to talk about himself unless he was being evasive. She felt that Joshua wanted people to believe he is uncaring and not very nice to those around him but when the Grimm attacked it had been him who stepped up and saved not only her but the town as well.

Despite all of the people who were scared of him, he was nicer than anyone thought, not even Joshua could say otherwise to her. What she didn't understand was why he lied. Carmine planned on finding that out now.

Her fist knocked softly against the small wooden door. The humming stopped for a few moments and she could hear Joshua getting his room in order.

"Come in," he called after a few moments. He always did that; she could tell that he didn't like people intruding when he wasn't ready. Carmine didn't understand why he didn't trust anyone but she wanted to be nice to him rather than pushy.

The red-haired girl turned the handle and opened the door to see his room relatively clean save his desk. On said desk was an assortment of dust, casings, and weird wires. It looked like what happened yesterday did little to slow Joshua down.

The man himself was dressed up in the bandages he seemed to like which was another thing she didn't understand. Why did he like hiding his face so much? Carmine figured he probably didn't like how he looked but she'd accept him no matter his appearance.

"Something on your mind," Joshua asked putting the scroll her father had given him back together.

Carmine took a breath in as she looked down at her feet. It was hard to talk about stuff like this. Being scared of Grimm wasn't something she could explain easily. "Why did you do it," she asked before realizing that her question was rather vague.

"Do what," was his reply and the one-eyed girl did her best not to let out an aggravated sigh. She may have been vague but Carmine knew that Joshua also knew what she was getting at.

Her one eye glanced back up towards him giving him a slight pout as she responded, "you know… Why did you help me?"

A small chuckle escaped the sitting man before he responded, "you mean during the Grimm attack? How was I supposed to let some girl get mauled to death by Grimm?"

"Okay…" Her voice was still small but she could feel the frustration build up. He was doing it again and it really annoyed her. "Why do you care so much?"

She watched Joshua as he set down the half-constructed scroll and let out a few clicking noises. The urge to smirk rose within her but she quickly pushed it down.

"I…" There was a pause as Joshua began and then stopped trying to find the right words. "Your father and you helped me when I needed it. I never leave my debts unpaid." Six's words were punctuated by his hand movements.

There was more he wanted to say she could tell. She often made the same hand motions when she was scared of saying something. Ones where she'd draw her hands closer to herself or try to cover her face discretely. Carmine remained silent and watched him expectantly.

At her look, Six sighed before continuing, "your father also reminds me of a friend I once had… Gone now but I have pleasant memories, and…" He paused again looking down at her doing his best to find the right words.

"You remind me of a younger me…" His words were nice to hear since he was finally telling her about himself. However, not to be rude, but Carmine hoped she didn't end up like Joshua.

A sigh escaped his lips as he sat back in his chair. Part of her didn't want to press her luck but there was a nagging part of her that had to know. There was a fear nestled in her heart that knowing his answer would help soothe.

"Thank you," she began as he gave her an odd look. "For saving me, and keeping your promise." Joshua sat silently simply nodding his head in response.

"I was scared, not because of the Grimm…" She hesitated trying to not show her discomfort at the subject but finding it impossible to as her hands clung together in front of her.

"I didn't want to lose Papa; I didn't want to lose you…" It was obvious that Joshua was getting uncomfortable as he began tapping the table and glancing at everything but her though the girl didn't notice. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked up at him. "I don't want to lose anyone like Mama ever again."

It still felt fresh in her mind, the night her mother died. It hadn't been quiet and peaceful but painful and ugly. The Grimm that had killed her mother had filled her with a rage she couldn't control for a long time until she saw what it had done to Papa.

She had felt so weak when her mother had died and Carmine thought she had gotten over that but the attack a couple of days ago had brought it all back. The fear for not only her life but the ones she cared for. The fear that she was too weak to help anyone, even herself.

Her breathing had grown erratic as tears began rolling down her face. "P-Please don't die, not like her." Despite herself, Carmine was nearly bawling in front of Joshua now.

Carmine barely registered a sigh come from in front of her before she felt arms wrap around her. Her head met his shoulder and tears began running down Joshua's vest.

"I'm not going to, I'm invincible remember?" The red-haired girl did remember his words from just a few days ago. He had been so confident that she believed him at the time and he had kept his promise.

That thought slowly calmed the red-haired girl down her tears slowing but her hands still gripped him tightly. She let out a sniffle before replying, "I don't think you're really invincible… But thank you." The girl's hold on him slowly loosened as she calmed down.

Carmine said she didn't believe him but there was a part of her that did. He had faced the Grimm like no one else she'd seen and not only survived but beat them back. "Y-You're really strong," she said a slight tremor in her voice. Joshua, in turn, let out a soft chuckle.

"I guess," he replied patting her head before slowly moving away. The Courier lowered his head to be eye level with her before asking, "are you okay now?"

Carmine nodded her head wiping away a few stray tears. "Yeah… Can I ask you something?" Her question caused Six to raise his brow.

"Shoot for it," he said sitting back down in his chair before getting comfortable.

The one-eyed girl glanced away from him before saying, "how did you get so strong?"

There was a short silence as Joshua closed his eyes and thought for a few moments. "By struggling, by surviving. I've had to fight my entire life and if I ever gave up, for even a second, I wouldn't be here." His response was slightly melancholy and she didn't understand why; what she did understand is that she felt sorry for him. It was obvious his life had been a rough one.

"I… I want to be strong," she said staring him in the eyes. "I want to be strong so no one I care about will ever be hurt again." There was a shine to her eyes, a certain determination to protect the ones she cared for. She knew that not all the townspeople liked her but she'd do whatever it took to protect the ones that did.

A sigh escaped Joshua's lips again before he responded, "it's not about wanting to be strong. It's about the reason why you want to be strong. You have to understand yourself first before you can truly be strong enough to protect people." He tapped the side of his head before continuing, "because there are different kinds of strength and you have to know which one you really want."

Joshua shrugged his shoulders before looking towards the door. "I think the best kind of strength is strength of the mind. That ability to always keep going, to never stop, to have that unbreakable will." His words were distant as he seemed to be thinking about something.

"But most importantly," he began before turning back to face her, "the true lesson of strength is to turn away from strength that is not your own." There was a cold tone in his voice now that sent shivers down her spine.

Carmine took in his words and processed them. It made sense, she had to know what she truly wanted. The girl closed her eyes and did her best to think hard on it. She wanted to protect Richter and Joshua but why? Carmine knew she cared for them and that should be enough but there was something more than that, something she couldn't quite grasp.

She moved a hand to her face and wiped away the last of her tears blaming her inability to understand why she wanted to grow stronger on her jumbled mind. Carmine needed time to calm down and really think about it. It was then that she felt his eyes gazing on her and she began feeling self-conscious.

"I'll think on it," she said turning and heading for the door. Carmine stopped for a moment to say, "thank you," before leaving.

Six took a long glance at the door before standing up and closing the door behind her.

* * *

Carmine had several spots she liked to go to when she wanted to think. All of them were out of town and away from the prying eyes of its residents.

The current one she was sitting in was a small bed of flowers. It wasn't particularly large, only big enough to fit her and maybe a few other people, but it had significant meaning to her because of the type of flower it was made of.

White chrysanthemum wasn't native to this area and she wasn't sure if her father or her mother had cultivated this small bed of flowers. The girl doubted any of the other residents cared that much and there was no way it had sprung up on its own.

But that wasn't what was important to her right now as her arm wrapped around her knees drawing them closer to her chest. Thoughts on Joshua's words ran through her mind as her free hand brushed along the many small petals of one of the flowers. Why did she care so much to have the strength to protect those around her?

The obvious answer was that they were her friends and family and while that was a part of it there was more to it. At the time Six asked, she wasn't sure, but thinking on it now made it clearer.

Carmine didn't know if it was the calm mood, that she wasn't as emotional, or the fact that the flowers around her were her mother's favorite but she was pretty sure she knew why.

Deep down there was a part of her that had never moved on from her mother dying. Even now she was just barely old enough to understand what her mother dying really meant. Tears welled up in her eyes again as she sat there thinking.

Her mother had died right in front of her and she had been powerless to stop it; she had been utterly useless. Carmine refused to be that useless again, to repeat that trauma, and only after recent events did she realize this. The fear that sprung up when the Grimm attacked had caused these thoughts to resurface.

The girl wiped away her tears before slowly standing up and taking a long breath in. She was older now, she could handle the big girl stuff, and she had to for her father. She was all he had now and Carmine had to remain strong for him.

Those feelings of inadequacy and uselessness would be squashed today because she wouldn't sit idly by for someone else to save her next time. She had a plan now. She'd get strong and she knew just the person to help her get there.

Carmine took a few steps back towards her home before glancing back at the flowers. Maybe she'd take Joshua here after he helped her get stronger.


	6. Chapter 5: The Insufferable Child

" _Text_ "

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

 _Chapter 5: The Insufferable Child_

* * *

Six had finally done it. Well, it wasn't a matter of if he would have been able to do it but rather when it would be finished. Either way, his new and improved Pip-Boy was finally finished. He had integrated the Scroll's features and now it had all the functionality of a Scroll with the added security of a Pip-Boy. Joshua figured few people in his own world could crack a Pip-Boy open and that there were even fewer here.

Now he would just have to make it so his weapons could chamber dust rounds and he'd be relatively set in terms of equipment once more. Of course, this didn't mean he wouldn't continue to research the world around him.

Joshua had learned much about the City of Vale and Beacon Academy as they would be his two biggest threats and starting points. Beacon could provide useful information and so could the city but more importantly he could acquire funding and resources to fix his transportalponder.

The most irritating thing about the academies and the four countries of this world—although there technically was five with Menagerie—was that none of them could do their job. Six had read some of the reports and history revolving around Grimm and if he had to be honest, they weren't that intimidating. Sure, they were large in number but the people of Remnant had the technology to drive them back.

From what Six could tell it was the bureaucracy of this world holding back such progress. The people in power had different priorities than the Grimm. If he was in charge, Joshua predicted he could have this problem solved within five to ten years for Vale and another five to ten for the rest of the world.

Of course, this was all for later, for now, he'd focus on tasks he could accomplish. That was why he had a dust bullet that he had stripped down on his desk. He knew the fundamentals of how the thing worked but he needed to know how the bullet worked from the inside out. More importantly, if he could chamber the right sized caliber dust round into his gun and have it work.

There was a slight distraction for him, namely the red-haired girl currently sitting next to him. He kept one eye on his Pip-Boy doing research and one eye on her.

Shortly after their talk, she had returned and asked him to make her "stronger." Though he wasn't completely sure what she meant, he could show her his kind of strength. That was why Carmine was currently taking apart and putting a 45. Auto pistol back together.

Six was planning to teach her how to shoot but first she needed to understand how to maintain and respect a weapon. She had to treat her guns with care or she was liable to not only have her gun misfire but to hurt herself.

It was a slow process but after he had shown her how to take it apart and put it back together, she had been practicing for the good part of… Six glanced down at his Pip-Boy; two hours.

Of course, he had taken the necessary precautions and given her an unloaded gun to work with. Right now, he was watching her go through the steps.

Take the magazine out, check the chamber for any rounds, clock the hammer down… His eyes wandered back to his Pip-Boy as he glanced at a news article. "More Dust Stolen by White Fang Criminals; When Will It Stop?"

It was interesting reading the current problems the city was facing but even more interesting that this had been going on for some time. The White Fang was stockpiling dust which could only mean they were preparing for a fight of some kind.

Joshua's attention was drawn away from his reading as the girl asked, "what am I supposed to do here again?"

The Courier's eyes glanced back over at her to find that she had pressed the spring down and turned the bushing before pushing the slide partially back. Six raised his hand before gently pushing the slide to a small mark on the gun. "Push it back to the indention," he began before turning the gun over in her hands. Six pointed to a small button before continuing, "and press this to make it pop out."

Carmine's brow furrowed as she struggled to remove the small piece that was keeping the gun together. It took her a few moments with Joshua's watchful gaze making her nervous but she managed to pop the piece out before removing the slide from the receiver.

It looked like she had remembered what to do from here so Six turned back to his readings. Even as he continued to read the article, the Courier found his mind wandering. He was almost certain that Richter hadn't given her permission to learn about guns from him and would likely be upset if he found out.

That was why Richter didn't need to find out. Everyone should know how to protect themselves and Carmine was no exception. If the old man didn't want that, too bad.

He glanced over and smirked to himself, she was rather good at this anyways. The red-haired girl had removed the barrel from the slide and was currently cleaning the now taken apart gun.

"Joshua," the girl began, pausing her cleaning to turn to him. "What do you do about bullies?"

Well, that was different. Six raised a brow before responding, "are you asking for yourself or someone else?"

He was fairly sure what the answer was as he watched the girl shift in her seat. "A friend," she replied as Six eyed her from under his bandages. Joshua would have to phrase this carefully.

"I'd… Tell this friend that he has to stand up for himself. He can't expect anyone else to do it for him." There was a lull in the conversation as Six thought on his next words. "Never show fear, bullies will latch onto it and use it against you. And be prepared for a fight, and to put your enemies in… The… Groun-"

Joshua turned towards the red-head realizing that what he said was probably extreme. "Bullies will sometimes want to fight you when you confront them so… Just be ready for a fight. I promise if you beat them, they'll leave you alone." Hopefully, his words would hit home for her and not seem weird and psychotic.

"What if people know my friend for fighting? What if my friend doesn't want to fight because it will make people blame her?" Her lie wasn't too clever but it was decent for her age. If Richter hadn't told him about Carmine's situation earlier, it probably would have taken him a bit longer to figure out who she was talking about.

This was also the closest she had come to telling him about her "dark" times. "Then own up to it, accept that you've made mistakes and move on. You can't hold yourself back." Six's words were slow as he formulated them quickly in his mind. He paused for a few moments before continuing, "accept your mistakes, know that the bullies might want to fight you, but don't go looking for a fight."

Her one eye glared at him as he met her gaze. "You know?" Her question was accusatory and Six could only shrug in response.

"I have ears," he replied going back to his Pip-Boy. "I was going to find out eventually, the way everyone blabbers on."

Carmine's hands met each other rubbing together nervously. "You… Don't think I'm a bad person," she asked glancing away from him.

Six glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. If only she knew what he'd done in the past, Carmine wouldn't be asking that question.

"No," came his simple and blunt response as he scooted towards the counter. Six wanted something to distract him from his thoughts, figuring out how the dust rounds worked seemed as good as anything else.

There was a long silence after that. The only sound that filled the room was the clinking of the dust round casings.

"Thank you," she said breaking the silence. Carmine got a grunt from Six in response. More silence filled the room as the two fell silent again.

It was the red-haired girl that broke the silence again as she asked, "what did you do… Back home, in the Mojave, at the Strip city?"

Six held in a chuckle at her idea of the Strip. He figured that the girl saw it as a city of wonder but it was nothing compared to the cities here.

"A lot," he replied still toying with the dust rounds. Six had been running a few tests on them to make sure that they wouldn't explode in his gun. From what he had found dust functioned like gunpowder with a few drawbacks and added effects.

The drawbacks were lower overall velocity and impact as well as being utterly useless against non-organic material. Essentially, if it wasn't Grimm or flesh it was near useless. The only dust rounds that could hurt metal were ones that exploded but that was more the triggered explosion than the impact from the round.

The positive was that it was very good at its job. Flesh and Grimm really couldn't stand up to the stuff. It even seemed to do more damage against Grimm, probably some rudimentary chemical reaction that not only penetrated Grimm skin but boiled it alive. Although it looked like some Grimm had adapted and were now resistant to such weapons.

"There were a lot of people that had me do a lot of things," he continued as he saw the annoyed look Carmine was giving him. "There was the NCR, the Legion, House, Followers of the Apocalypse, and a lot of small groups all wanted my help."

"But why your help?" Her question was innocent enough and it made sense. Why would a bunch of different factions all want his help? Six knew it was because he was good at what he does, and that was hurting people.

"Because I hurt people and I was good at it. Might have even been the best in the business." His statement carried with it a hint of pride but for the most part he was monotone. Six did take some pride in his work but when it came down to it the killing was just a means to an end. As The Burned Man put it, "I don't enjoy killing but, but when done righteously, it's just a chore, like any other."

The gun Carmine had been cleaning lay on the table. Joshua had to admit she had done a good job and it was ready to be put back together.

Her one eye glanced up at him and asked the question he had been waiting for, "did you kill people?"

More silence filled the air as she looked up at him. Six's body was tense under the staring and questioning. He was never this nervous when he was lying to even the most powerful men in the Mojave, why was he nervous about this girl?

Joshua let out a sigh and allowed his body to relax. His eyes turned to her as he replied, "yes. Most of them deserving… Some of them not. It's why I could handle the Grimm as well as I did."

The Butcher of House leaned in before continuing, "you can't trust everyone you meet at random. I've hurt people, a lot of people, and I could've hurt you." He could see it now, the fear in her eyes, the fear that everyone eventually had of him, or maybe that was just his eyes playing tricks on him.

"But you didn't hurt me," Carmine replied a small pout on her face as she turned away and picked up the pieces of the auto pistol. Joshua blinked in response; it wasn't often he was surprised but here he was. "In fact, all you've done since you've been here has helped me and Papa. So, I think you're nicer than you think."

The girl continued putting the pistol back together as she continued, "I don't know why anyone would ever hate somebody enough to kill them… But to me you just seem sad."

Six let out a sigh before turning back to his Pip-Boy. This girl was absolutely insufferable, kind of like him when he was younger. Maybe a little too intuitive for her age. A small smirk crossed his face underneath the bandages. No matter how much he tried to deny it, a simple life like this was nice. He'd enjoy it while it lasted.

* * *

Author's Notes:

If anyone is curious, I based the 45. Auto pistol cleaning scene on the 1911 since the 45. was based on it. That is a step-by-step breakdown on how to clean a 1911, hopefully accurately.


	7. Chapter 6: Out of Patience

" _Text_ "

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

 _Chapter 6: Out of Patience_

* * *

Another loud bang rang throughout the forest as the bullet hit its mark. Six glanced up from his make-shift workstation in the forest and glanced towards the source of the noise.

Carmine held a small .22 in her hands and was currently firing at a target pinned to a refrigerator. Said refrigerator had been thrown out a few days ago by a neighbor and then carried by Six to his makeshift range.

It had been a few days since Joshua and the girl had talked, making it about three weeks since he had arrived on Remnant.

Joshua had set up this range for a few reasons. First, he had wanted to get away from many of the eyes in town so he could work on his equipment in peace. Second, it was a good place to test out his firearms he was modifying to use dust rounds. And lastly, Carmine needed the practice.

Honestly, the range was tiny, only really viable for small firearms like the .22 she was currently firing. The two were about a mile out of town so none of the residents would worry as long as they didn't shoot anything too powerful. Of course, he also used this as an opportunity to test his guns out.

The current pistol she was firing was one of his test weapons. A pistol from his world that had been modified to fire dust rounds. He was pretty sure that she was perfectly safe.

He was currently sitting behind her at a small table he had set up to work on his gear. The .22 was the only weapon that he had managed to modify to chamber dust rounds. Of course, he had also made .22 rounds filled with dust to go along with it. He'd have to make his own ammo but that was a hassle that Six could manage. He was just happy he'd have a steady supply of ammo. In theory, when he was done he could chamber both dust and gunpowder bullets into his guns.

The current problem wasn't the weapons he was working on. Nor was it the red-head who was still learning how to shoot. It was the older gentleman sitting across from him with a deep scowl on his face.

Richter had found out about their little project in the forest and the fact that Joshua was teaching Carmine to shoot a gun. Now that Six thought about it, it was only a matter of time before the older gentleman found out anyways.

At first, her father had been furious, and for good reason. Not so much at Carmine learning how to protect herself which was the initial problem but rather that they had both tried to keep it a secret from him. A perfectly reasonable response actually.

Six had been used to going around people as almost no one ever just went along with his plans. In hindsight treating everyone like that wasn't a good idea and this had opened his eyes to that.

The only real punishment now was that Richter was going to be around at all times whenever they went to the firing range which meant Six would get no privacy to tinker. The Courier could work around that though.

"So, I don't want to pry," the older gentleman began as he put a dust round down. The Grimm attack had come early but that didn't change the previous order the militia had put in for weapons, gear, and armor.

This also meant that Joshua had been put to work helping the father of the Spring family make said items. "I assume you're going to ask anyway," Six replied loading more bullets into a magazine for Carmine.

A small grunt of confirmation came from Richter before he said, "you're a strange man from some unknown place. I get that. You don't have to tell me everything. But…" There was a pause as the crippled man glanced towards Carmine. "She told me some things."

"Wonderful," the Courier replied unamused at the situation. He didn't expect Carmine to keep everything from her father but he had hoped.

"This "Mojava" and "Strip" don't exist anywhere on any maps," Carmine's father said his eyes trained on Six.

The former ruler of Vegas shrugged not turning away from his dust project though he did have to resist correcting Richter on his mispronunciation of Mojave. "What of it?" Six's response was blunt and to the point. If Richter was trying to get information out of him, he might as well just come out and say it.

"I don't need to know everything and you can have your secrets," Richter began as he picked up a test bullet the Courier was working on, "but I have to know something about you if you're going to be staying under my roof much longer."

Six paused his work to look up at Carmine who was currently loading another magazine into her gun. Probably not the safest practice to let her do it on her own but he had taught her how to do it and he had been doing it at a younger age anyways.

The Butcher of House glanced towards Richter before responding, "then I won't. I never planned on staying here forever." The slight tensing of the older man's hand told everything Six needed to know.

The Courier had called the man's bluff. It was obvious that he cared a lot for Carmine and a lot of what was keeping the girl going right now after the Grimm attack was Six. She'd probably survive without the Wastelander but it would definitely hurt her for him to up and disappear. Six and her father knew that.

Richter's hand balled into a fist as he placed it against his forehead. "Why do you have to be so difficult about this?" Six knew Richter's question wasn't unreasonable but how was he supposed to explain everything he had been through? Six didn't even want to tell Richter anything.

Sure, they had been staying together for three weeks but that was nothing compared to his companions that betrayed him. As for Carmine, his eyes wandered over to the girl, he had a soft spot for children. If Six had to guess, he wanted them to have the childhood he never had, and the damage Carmine had gone through in her life reminded the Courier of himself.

Whatever, so this had been a nice change of pace, Six knew that he'd have to move on eventually… That didn't mean he wanted to move on just yet. A frown crossed the bandaged man's face as he looked back towards Richter.

Carmine's father heard a sigh escape the Courier's lips and glanced up to see the stranger staying in his house set down dust and casings before saying, "it's not going to be on any maps. I can't explain everything right now but just know that it's a very hard place to find."

The glance from Richter told Six that he was listening. "It's also not a very forgiving place. It might as well be the apocalypse there," Joshua continued knowing that it was far more than the apocalypse "might" have happened.

"I'm doing my best to put that place behind me for now," the Courier said before going silent and looking straight at Richter.

"I would suppose so judging from your attitude," Carmine's father replied before chuckling. It was a few seconds later before the aged man asked, "anything else important I should know?"

"All you should know is that I'm from there and that it should never be exposed to the outside world." Six wasn't lying about the latter of what he said. Interaction between his world and this one might be disastrous. It didn't mean he couldn't introduce technology and resources from this world to his. He could help both Remnant and Earth without any need for them to interact for now.

Joshua was fairly certain that this was a different world. It didn't make sense that it was his world but in the future since there was no record of such change and no radiation traces left. There would at least be hints of the old world… Right? He'd go with that theory until proven otherwise.

"I suppose that'll do for now, it's not much but it's something." At Richter's words, Six brought himself back to reality. The older man looked satisfied and Carmine was approaching the two.

"I need more ammo," the girl said setting down the empty magazines.

Six pushed two empty clips towards her before responding, "then load them yourself. You want to shoot the gun you have to put in the effort."

Carmine was about to reply when all three of them heard footsteps. Graham's .45 auto pistol was in Six's hand as a group of people stepped out of the forest. He instantly recognized some of them.

The first he noticed was the blonde-haired guard that had been in charge of the civilians during the Grimm assault. The second was the messenger Faunus that had been running information from one gate to the next. And the final guard he recognized was the greying-haired man with the large scar, the man leading the soldiers during the assault.

Along with those men were a small gaggle of civilians. Six managed to pick out Scarred Tom in the crowd.

The one leading the group wasn't someone he recognized. A young woman, short black hair, serious looking. She was likely the one that was going to be a problem.

The woman leading the group glanced around the range before asking, "what's going on here?"

Six glanced around at the range as well before turning back to the black-haired woman. "Firing practice… At a firing range?" Six's response was meant to make fun of her but he was also confused as to what the problem was.

The frown that graced the leader's face wasn't pretty as she replied, "I know that, why exactly did you build all this?" Oh, this was going to be fun.

"To shoot guns," Six replied the humor not escaping the group's ears.

The man with the large scar stepped forward before saying, "captain, he's messing with you."

"I know that sergeant," the captain replied pinching the bridge of her nose.

The young blonde guard he remembered stepped forward before speaking, "excuse me, she means why do you need to practice shooting so close to town? We have gotten a lot of noise complaints from the citizens here."

Joshua could see what was going on. This had nothing to do with the range. "We're a mile outside of town using small arms fire. If they heard anything, it's because they left town to come watch us."

There was a murmur from the crowd as the captain stepped in front of the blonde guard. "So, you're telling me a heavily armed stranger moves into town, ignores everyone except the problem family in town, single-handedly takes down swarms of Grimm, and decides to build a range for no reason?"

That's what this was about. The townspeople figured they could get rid of the dangerous stranger and the problem father and daughter with one go? Not likely.

"So," The Butcher of House began, mocking the way the captain had begun her own little speech. "You're telling me, a heavily armed friendly moves into town, helps the family that helped him, single-handedly saves the town, and decides to build a range for target practice, and you all want to have a problem with it?"

The "saves the town" part may have been exaggerated to a degree, it wasn't just him that saved the town, but he'd be damned if they didn't remember him helping.

"No offense stranger," the one identified as sergeant said as he scratched the back of his head. "But you don't exactly inspire confidence, you're kind of an asshole."

"Not to mention how you knew so much about the Grimm," the Faunus messenger piped up from behind the sergeant. "You knew where they were heading and what they were doing, how did you do that?"

The Courier placed a hand on his hip and sighed. This was getting nowhere; they were just going to keep finding excuses. He was about to reply when he was interrupted by Carmine.

"Leave him alone, he helped me, he helped all of you!" Her tone was a bit shaky as she stepped in front of Six and he could tell she was nervous. "Why do you have to be so mean?"

"Because not only did he threaten me in my own shop but he also went and made friends with you, ya little shit!" Six identified the one who was speaking as Tom.

Richter was about to step in front of Carmine and reprimand Tom for speaking to his daughter that way when Joshua placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder.

The air seemed to heat up to Carmine's father but he knew that couldn't be right. "The fuck did you just say you little piece of shit?" Six took a few steps forward and Richter was legitimately worried that Joshua was going to try and strangle the man.

"Wanna run that by me again?" At the Courier's words, the guards reached for their weapons but didn't say a word. "What did you do, while you sat in your home shitting yourself like the worthless maggot you are? While I went and saved the town."

Six could feel that familiar anger build up inside of him. He took another step forward. This worthless dead man dared to talk to her that way? He was the chaff, and it was Six's duty to cut the chaff from the wheat.

"You sat there and did nothing, and the only reason I saved this pathetic, worthless little town, is because these two were here." He still had the pistol in his hand but didn't raise it for now.

Six took a few calming breaths as the messenger tried to pipe up, "we helped defe-"

"No, I don't want to fucking hear it! If I wasn't here, you'd all be dead, remember that!" Six turned to Tom after shouting down the messenger. "The next time you run your mouth off like that to her, you're dead. Hell don't talk to any of us like that."

Even after the shouting, even after putting these cowards in their place, he could still feel the rage. He raised his arm before pointing the pistol at Tom. He could barely even register the sounds of the captain telling him to stand down. His limb remained motionless; his pistol trained on the worthless idiot. One squeeze, that's all it would take.

"This town has always been against these two, as far as I'm concerned, none of you deserve to live." His finger began squeezing the trigger when he was finally snapped out of it.

"Joshua," Carmine said grabbing his arm and yanking it down, almost causing him to pull the trigger. "It's okay, he didn't do anything, he just said some mean words. It's okay."

It took a few calming breaths for Six to regain his senses. Only now did he realize all the soldiers had their guns trained on him. When did he get so prone to such outbursts of anger? His free hand went to Carmine's head as he looked down at her. It was a good thing this girl was more in control than he was. It almost made him want to chuckle.

"Leave," the Courier demanded. "Leave this range and don't come back, I'll protect you from the Grimm but if you ever insult me or the Spring family again by doing something like this…"

The tone had gone from a fiery rage to cold anger as he tilted his head back towards the group before continuing, "you're all dead." He was specifically staring down the captain that had the audacity to try and pull this off.

The captain looked like she wanted to say something but the crowd had been thoroughly shouted into submission and even her own men seemed nervous.

"We're leaving, move out," the captain ordered as she turned on her heel and began marching back towards town.

Once they were out of sight, Six felt a kick to his leg and looked down. "What did you do that for," the Courier asked noticing that Carmine had done it.

"Thank you… For standing up for me," the red-haired girl replied slowly. "But you can't go around threatening people like that! Just because they say mean things doesn't mean you can threaten them!"

The Courier felt like arguing the point but realized that after his little outburst it seemed rather childish to do so, especially with a little girl. "Fine, fine, I won't threaten them again. Unless they deserve it."

"No," she shot back pulling his sleeve. "Promise you won't do it again!"

Six didn't like making promises. They seemed childish and he didn't like being held to them but this one seemed relatively harmless. Besides, he doubted she'd be around the next time he would inevitably threaten someone. "Fine," he muttered back. "I promise."

The girl nodded her head before trotting over to the make-shift workbench. One quick glance towards Richter and Six knew the old man was now very nervous but at least slightly amused. Richter was doing his best to hide how uncomfortable he was around Joshua right now.

"That's my girl," Richter said jokingly before heading towards the workbench.

The Courier holstered his pistol before heading back over to the workbench himself. He still had to keep working on the dust rounds and modifications for his guns and teach Carmine. It was going to be a long day.


	8. Chapter 7: Out of Sight out of Mind

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long hiatus. It's been like three or four months. So, I decided to reward your patience with a few chapters instead of one. A few of them are shorter but overall it equals to about double what I usually upload in one sitting. Hopefully the quality is still to your standards!

Starting next month, I'm going to try and upload a 2,500 word chapter a week to see if I can get on a normal schedule.

" _Text_ "

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

 _Chapter 7: Out of Sight out of Mind_

* * *

Another week, another series of days where Carmine bugs him. Six had been getting progressively less amused as the days went on. He didn't hate the girl; no, the girl was about the only person he currently had some sort of connection to. But it would be an understatement to say she was an irritant.

For the past six or seven days she had been pestering him to train her nonstop. She hadn't made any remarkable improvements over the past week but she at least knew the basics. A little CQC, firearms training and safety, tactics, and even a little of his own philosophy. In fact, Six would say he enjoyed it if not for the fact she bugged him about it every second of every day.

The girl was lucky that the incident on his own world left him with no connections and thus he had clung to the girl. Not in any major way but definitely enough that he viewed her above the average person. Although that wasn't an achievement considering he thought most of the population could be wiped out with just him and a few remaining and nothing of value would be lost.

Currently, the two were back at the firing range. She was learning how to make her own bullets; probably not a skill she would need but she wanted to learn what he knew. And that gave Six ample time to make more bullets for himself as well, and even get a helping hand at that.

It had taken the entirety of the last week but the majority of his weapons, except for the anti-material rifle and his gauss rifle, could fire specially designed dust rounds. The anti-material rifle was difficult because Dust didn't seem to work well when put into large-caliber rounds and the gauss rifle for obvious reasons. The gauss rifle required very specific ammo. In fact, he was pretty sure the rifle would only work with ferromagnetic projectiles.

"Joshua," Carmine said turning away from the workbench Six had made. "When will I get as strong as you?"

Six grimaced under his bandages not really wanting to answer the question. The truth was she might never be "as strong" as him in his own skills. What she really needed was to sprout her wings and find her own skills that she could use to surpass him. In a decade or two… Maybe.

"When you figure out your own path," the Courier replied carefully preparing the Dust round in his hands.

The frown that crossed the girl's face tipped Six off that she wasn't pleased with that answer. "Don't be super vague, I don't know what that means," she replied stopping what she was doing to cross her arms and pout at him.

Carmine's current attitude was both annoying and good at the same time. As he had stayed there for a good bit of time, she had figured out how to push his buttons and it annoyed Joshua to no end. On the other hand, she had also opened up which Six doubted Carmine had done in a long time.

Six set the Dust bullet down before looking at her and saying, "you need to develop your own skills and strengths. You'll never become strong following someone else's footsteps forever." Though if she had to follow someone, Joshua couldn't think of a better man than himself.

The red-head seemed to be satisfied with that answer as she went back to work with a thoughtful expression. At least he had satisfied her curiosity for now.

"How long did it take you," she asked nearly making Six sigh. Kids really did ask a lot of questions.

Her inquiry did give him pause as he turned to look at the tree line. How long had he been doing this? How old was he again? It's not like he had a limited number of years thanks to the Think Tank. He had an extended life and Six wasn't sure if he even would die of natural causes. The benefits of being mostly machine on the inside.

He set out when he was a kid. That was after a few years with the old man after his mother died. Six had spent the last year or two in the Mojave or at least near it. How much time had taken place between when he set out and when he made it to the Mojave?

As far as Six knew, he had been traveling the Wasteland for about a decade. He was lucky and started young; many people started closer to twenty and had to retire in a decade or two. Even if he wasn't cybernetically enhanced Six would have had another two or so decades before he would have stopped traveling.

The problem wasn't lack of skill, but rather radiation, damage, and what the Wasteland does to a man. Most men were too injured or old to keep going after thirty or forty. Hell, the average lifespan of a man was around fifty nowadays in the Wasteland and that was if something didn't get you first.

So, time for some simple math. Six had set out at roughly the same age as Carmine, traveled for about a decade, and had been in the Mojave for a year or two. If the Courier had to guess…

"I'd say it took me fifteen years," Six finally replied coming back to reality. Of course, he was counting the four or so odd years before he had set out as well, training and all. Thanks to the bandages almost no one could tell his age but if he had to guess, the Courier would say he's between twenty to twenty-two.

"That's a long time," Carmine muttered before letting out a long sigh and continuing, "that's going to be forever."

"It takes a lot of time, dedication, and perseverance to get anything worthwhile done." His response probably wasn't what she wanted to hear but it was the truth. His circumstances had forced Joshua to go above and beyond just to survive from an early age.

It was then that Six heard footsteps coming from the woods towards town. He figured it was probably one of the militia goons based on the metallic sound of the boots but he didn't say anything. He waited and watched Carmine.

One second, two seconds, three seconds, and there it was. The girl's green eye finally moved to look at the stranger stepping out from the trees. They would have to work on her perception skills.

"Something you need," Six asked finally turning towards the visitor. It was the messenger Faunus he had seen during their little group discussion.

The Courier watched the guard cross his arms before replying, "there's going to be a Grimm attack in the next few days, Captain wants you to come to the meeting for it."

So, the Captain wasn't as bullheaded as she first appeared, that was good, it meant there was hope for this town surviving after all.

"I'm coming, I just have to get Carmine home," Six said standing up before turning to said girl. "We're gonna have to finish up for today, Grimm on the prowl and all that."

The girl nodded her head seemingly less willing to speak now that a stranger was near. The two quickly packed up the bullets and equipment before following the Faunus into the trees.

"So, what the hell do we call you? Everyone just knows you as the Stranger." The Faunus' question was fair but he likely wouldn't like the answer.

"Six, like the number," the Courier replied before feeling a tug on the bandages on his arm. He looked down to see Carmine giving him a look. He sighed before correcting himself. "Or Joshua."

There was a slight pause in the conversation as the three walked in silence. "What should I call all of you, unless you like me calling you guard one through five," the Courier said still following along.

"I'm James," the Faunus began before seemingly losing himself in thought. "The blonde guy you met is Larry, the Sergeant is John, and the Captain's name is Lirah. Though the sergeant prefers Variance. There are others but those were the members of the Guard there."

Six glanced at the Faunus as he asked, "is there a reason why you're more amicable today?" This guy hadn't trusted him for a second the first time they met and had been an ass until just now.

"Listen, I know we might seem like ungrateful suspicious country people but even if I don't like someone, they deserve some respect." The Faunus' words elevated him slightly above that of an animal in Six's eyes. There was something about being straightforward and honorable that caught the Courier's eye.

"Fair enough, I can respect that," Joshua replied as they neared the clearing where the town was.

Six was forced to draw his weapon when he heard rustling from the foliage to his left. The guard followed suit with Carmine stepping behind him.

There were a few more seconds of silently aiming and rustling before they heard, "don't shoot, don't shoot! I'm just lost."

The guard lowered his weapon but Six remained steadfast and wary of whatever was going to come out. A man wearing a grey and orange suit stepped out from the bushes with a smile on his face.

"My name is Logarius, I'm a Huntsman and I'm looking for a town called Rhyt. Should be close by here right?" The Huntsman's words calmed Six as he lowered his weapon as well.

James pointed towards the end of the trees and to town before replying, "it is. Just over that way, not more than five minutes. We were heading there ourselves." The Faunus stopped giving directions to turn back to the Huntsman and ask, "did the Captain finally request a Huntsman's help?"

Logarius blinked a few times in confusion before the smile returned and he replied, "oh no! You see I was tasked with investigating the recent surge of Grimm activity in the area and I figured where better to get information than a town smack dab in the middle of it all!"

The frown that adorned Six's face was only matched by the curiosity in Carmine's eye. Joshua knew exactly what the girl was excited about as she had been elated when she first asked him if he was a Huntsman. This guy was the real deal and she wanted to talk to him.

To the former ruler of Vegas, the guy was too damn chipper, and the oversized bright orange revolver on the man's waist didn't put his mind at ease. Just like how he had appeared out of nowhere when a Grimm attack was inbound. Six took a second look at the guy again.

Pale, brown hair, a handle-bar mustache, and a large revolver. His suit wasn't helping matters as the Huntsman's three-piece suit in this hot weather made Six question the man's sanity. The outermost layer was grey, followed by a vest that was orange underneath, and finally another grey shirt underneath that. This guy definitely liked orange and grey.

"Well, if you're sticking around, we could use your help. There's supposed to be a Grimm attack in the next few days," James replied looking somewhat hopeful. Six was curious to see a Huntsman in combat. Of course, he didn't miss the idea that James simply wanted to rely on a Huntsman rather than him.

"I might help, depending on how severe the attack is and if it could lead me to my quarry," the Huntsman replied in a carefree tone. The Courier was suspicious of a Huntsman who just happened to show up before a Grimm attack and who had an eternally chipper attitude.

The guard seemed slightly flustered by the response not expecting such an apathetic view on the situation from a Huntsman. James turned and began walking back towards town as he said, "well, we're going to a meeting to discuss the Grimm attack anyways. You can come and decide there if you want."

Logarius nodded his head before following behind the guard. Six and Carmine moved to catch up to the two men and the Courier took position behind the Huntsman.

The red-haired girl moved to the suit-wearing Huntsman's side before looking up at him. "I bet you're really strong," she said in a quiet tone trying to make sure James couldn't hear her. The Faunus' ear perked slightly so Six doubted that Carmine had accomplished her mission.

The other thing Joshua noticed was the Huntsman glance back towards him briefly before turning his gaze to Carmine. Was Logarius suspicious of him or just the fact that he was behind him? Either way, it proved that the Huntsman didn't trust them as much as he let on.

"Well, I'd say so but there are people stronger than me," the man in the suit answered a soft smile adorning his face.

The girl listened to his response her hands fidgeting before she asked, "like who?"

The suited man turned away from her and tapped his finger against his chin. "I'd say… Ozpin of course, Glynda, Qrow, Ironwood, some of the members of the Schnee family…"

Carmine's brow raised in confusion and when the Huntsman saw it he quickly corrected himself, "don't get me wrong, most of those people are some of the best Huntsman and Huntresses in the world. While I pride myself on my abilities, they just don't compare. In fact, Ozpin—the Headmaster of Beacon Academy—is said to be one of, if not the strongest Huntsman there is."

"What's he like," Carmine asked as Six increased his pace to get closer to the two.

"Don't annoy our new friend with too many questions now," Joshua said trying his best to kill the conversation. It wasn't that he really was annoyed by her questions, he'd been putting up with them for a week, but the Courier didn't trust this Huntsman for a second.

Logarius chuckled before placing a hand on Six's shoulder who in turn had to restrain himself from reacting violently. "It's no worries; Ozpin, well frankly he's a mysterious fellow," Logarius answered removing his hand from the Courier's shoulder.

"He's always wrapped up in a mystery but he does look out for his students. The man trains future Huntsman and Huntresses now, like me." As the man paused, Six took time to process his words.

Ozpin seemed like he would be a problem to his plans. A higher-up who was mysterious and protective of his students, it was a good idea to stray away from any such man for now.

"But I hear he was truly something else when he was younger. Still, don't underestimate him just because he's a tad older now." The Huntsman chuckled at his own words and Six fell to the back of the group again. At least Carmine was happy.

"We're here," James called out as the group broke the clearing and spotted Rhyt.

Logarius took a breath in and stretched before saying, "ah yes, the town from the reports. It was fun talking to you…" The suited man paused as he turned to the red-head.

"O-Oh, I'm Carmine, sorry for not introducing myself!" The girl's enthusiasm didn't stop there however as she continued, "and that's James, and that's Joshua."

The Courier stepped forward again placing himself between the Huntsman and Carmine. "It was nice to meet you Logarius, but I need to take Carmine home and head to the meeting. You two should head there without me, I'll catch up."

James turned back to Six before saying, "well, the meeting is taking place in the remains of town hall, we've cleaned up some space there. Make your way there when you're done."

The Former Ruler of Vegas nodded his head in response before taking Carmine's hand and leading her towards the Spring home. Now that the two were back in town and away from the Huntsman, Carmine had grown quiet, not wanting to attract anyone's attention.

"Listen Carmine," Six began as the two walked home. "I understand you're excited about this Huntsman, and that you're curious. But you've got to be careful when talking to strangers, no matter who they are."

The red-haired girl pouted as she leaned closer and muttered, "but Huntsman are supposed to protect people, not hurt them."

The Courier sighed tilting his head back for a second before looking back down at her and replying, "I know, but remember when you said you wanted to get stronger? That means you have to be able to read people. To understand their intentions and if they aren't who they say they are alright?"

"I… Don't understand," she replied with a confused expression on her face.

"It just means," Six began before pausing to find his words. "It means that some people will say they're good when they're really not. And in order to protect people from liars like that, you have to be able to tell when they're lying. That means you can't just trust people you meet okay?"

This time the girl didn't verbally respond but instead nodded her head. The frown that was on her face indicated she was disheartened but the Courier would rather have that than her be naïve and vulnerable.

"It doesn't mean you can't talk to people," Joshua continued trying to bring a smile back to her face. "Just make sure that you're being careful when you do. That you really know who they are."

Carmine still wasn't smiling but she wasn't frowning anymore either. Mission partially accomplished at least and he was out of time.

The two walked up to the door and Joshua let the girl's hand go. "Alright, now go inside and tell your father what's happening. I'll be back later today," he said opening the door for her.

"Okay, stay safe Joshua," she replied before stepping inside and glancing back at him.

Six nodded his head in response before saying, "of course, I'm invincible remember?"

* * *

It was a quick walk to town hall and Six got to see a lot of the mayhem the Conqueror Worm had caused. Many buildings were just gone, the debris still partially scattered around where they once were. Some were partially destroyed, and a lot of the roads had been dug up.

It had been a lot of pain for the townspeople to repair a lot of the damage in the past two weeks and a good bit of it still remained.

Town hall itself wasn't in that good a shape either now that he could see it. The half of the building that had been destroyed had been mostly cleared and replaced by wooden make-shift replacement walls with a large tarp covering it. At least it was a roof.

As he approached, Six felt a slight twinge in his leg and paused. The fall he had taken when he had finished off the large Grimm had messed him up. For the most part he had healed from it but he still felt a bit of pain every now and then. It was a good thing his cybernetics meant an increased healing factor.

Joshua shrugged off the slight pain and made his way inside the "building." Inside were several guards running around and moving crates, weapons, supplies, anything Six could think of that the militia needed.

In the center of this mess was a wooden table surrounded by a few familiar figures. Lirah the captain, the grey-haired sergeant, and the Huntsman.

Six approached the table and the three looked up at him. The sergeant had a neutral expression but it was obvious the captain held some level of disdain for him. And of course, the Huntsman was perfectly happy.

"What did I miss?" Six attempted to ask his question in a neutral tone but he couldn't hide the slight hint of annoyance in his voice.

The sergeant shrugged before replying, "not much. Just got done filling the Huntsman in on the situation with the last attack."

There was a nod from the suited man as he turned to Six. "Indeed, these fine soldiers just finished the part where you killed a Grimm no one has seen in… Over a century!"

"You mean the Conqueror Worm," the Courier questioned as he crossed his arms and looked down. On a table lay a map with several marks on it indicating various defensive positions.

"Indeed," Logarius replied enthusiastically. "These creatures caused a great deal of trouble long before the Great War which is why most large cities have a sort of electric security grid under their walls. After the cities installed these safety measures, these worm-like Grimm appeared less and less until they disappeared completely over a century ago!"

It was interesting to note that some Grimm had either ceased attacking or gone extinct but what was more interesting was their reemergence. It just happened to be a couple of weeks after he happened to show up to this town? Something didn't feel right.

More than one member of the town had thought so as well. Six now often caught looks from some of the townspeople. He assumed it was because not only was he a stranger but these attacks only started getting worse after he showed up.

"What's the plan to stop this next attack then," Six asked turning away from the Huntsman and facing the Captain.

Lirah looked down at the map before pointing to various sections of it and saying, "we're using several tactics from last time. We've managed to repair the gates and we've locked down two of them. No going in or out of the north or south gate as we've completely spiked the entrance against Grimm."

Her hand pointed towards the other gates as she continued, "we'll leave a few men on guard there and move our forces to the other gates to reinforce them." Her finger trailed from the gates to the roads connecting them. "We're starting to set up several barriers along the roads as well if they're breached."

"Actually, if we're doing that, we should set some traps leading to their fallback positions. Nothing deadly, just some stakes and rope to trip up the Grimm and slow them down, and remember that they moved around so the sides of these barriers need to be protected as well." Six had moved into work-mode as he explained his thoughts.

The Huntsman raised a finger as he interjected, "indeed a sound plan, but if we have some spare Dust, we could also line these traps with it. The creatures react poorly to the stuff and it might even cripple their legs when they hit the ropes."

"Have any of those mines left," the captain asked as she glanced at Six.

The Courier shrugged his head in response as he replied, "not anymore, and I'm low on grenades too."

The Huntsman eyed Joshua at his words before saying, "you're rather well-armed, aren't you?"

The Butcher of House shrugged in response before the captain said, "we asked about it earlier and didn't get a response. For now, it doesn't matter. Sergeant!"

Variance stood at attention before responding, "ma'am!"

"Get the men to start working on these traps, and get someone down to the Spring house to get some dust," she ordered before turning back to the two.

The sergeant didn't hesitate as he immediately took off and began barking orders at other guards. "Anything else that the two of you can think of," the captain asked as Six glanced out a "window" which was just a square hole in the wall.

The Huntsman responded to her but Joshua stopped listening. There was some dark shadow that was moving just outside the window. "What the hell," the Courier muttered as he flipped a familiar setting on his Pip-Boy to "ON."

"Quite a peculiar device you have thei-" the Huntsman began before Six cut him off.

"Shut up!" The former Ruler of Vegas had activated his eye's compass and the red marker was indicating that there was indeed an enemy just outside the building.

Joshua pulled the Mysterious Magnum from his side before moving over to the window and sticking his head out. There were two of them!

One was that small little piece of shit that had opened the gate and apparently killed Carmine's mother. Well, Six called him small but in all honesty the thing was only small by Grimm standards. It still stood a foot or two taller than him.

"Shit," the Courier cursed as he spotted the Beowolf beside it. That was when the first scream rang out. The Beowolf charged at one of the villagers as the smaller one slinked back between two buildings and disappeared.

It was time to put this thing down like he had put down the Kings. The King Butcher opened fire on the Beowolf, his first shot hitting it in the leg.

The red-eyed monster tumbled to the ground face first before receiving two more bullets to the head for its trouble.

Joshua turned away from the creature as it evaporated and yelled out, "there's Grimm inside the walls already!"

"What, how… That shouldn't be possible, where are they coming from," the captain asked as the Huntsman made his way over to the window as well.

Logarius tapped his chin as he said, "well, that's not normal for Grimm. Most don't ever try to sneak through towns full of prey."

Joshua wasn't listening as he had already jumped through the window. "Of course it's not normal but that doesn't matter. We need to figure out where they're coming from." The Courier didn't bother waiting for a response as he moved over to the alley the humanoid Grimm had disappeared into.

"I saw one come this way," Six said as the Huntsman approached him from behind.

The two took a few steps into the alley before spotting where the Grimm had gone. There was a large hole that looked like the Grimm had crawled into.

Logarius tapped his chin in thought as Six turned to him. The Courier's first thought was that the Huntsman really loved tapping his chin, his second was where this could lead.

"It probably leads straight out of town," the suited man said with a curious expression on his face. "I don't think I've ever seen Grimm behavior like this."

"Okay, how do we follow it? Or at least plug it up," the Courier replied not bothering to try and sate the Huntsman's curiosity.

There were a few moments of silence before the Huntsman replied, "we could try going after it."

Silence fell between the two again as the Courier looked from the Huntsman, to the hole, and back to the Huntsman. "That's a stupid idea for so many reasons," Six replied thoroughly not impressed by Logarius.

"I know, I know," the brown-haired man replied as he stepped towards it. "Grab something that can cover the hole."

The former Ruler of Vegas wanted to argue but figured time was of the essence as he heard another scream in the distance. It wasn't a long journey as city hall had plenty of smaller tarps laying around.

By the time Six made it back to the hole, Logarius had already finished most of what he was doing. What the Courier did get to see was the Huntsman lifting a rather large container with what looked like a hose on the end of it.

"That should be enough, put whatever you found over the hole," the suited man ordered as he straightened his back.

Six moved past the Huntsman and covered the hole with the tarp. This felt familiar to when he was first running around the Mojave, no one had given him an order like that in a long time.

"And, here, we, go," Logarius said in a happy tone as he lifted the tarp and threw a small crystal-like object into the hole. It looked like pure solid Dust.

The Courier's eyes widened as he realized what the Huntsman was doing and could only cover his face before being blown back to the ground as a small explosion knocked him down.

A few coughs escaped Six's lips as he slowly rolled over and pressed his hands to the ground. That had hurt, he wasn't even in his elite riot armor and was still wearing the Burned Man's set.

The bandages on his hands were singed black as Six guessed that the entire front of his body looked similar as he got to his feet. "Logarius," the Courier called out as he looked back towards the hole.

"Yes," the Huntsman replied in a questioning tone. The front of his suit was blackened as well but it looked like the explosion had hardly affected him. The wonders of an aura were true then. At least Six could confirm it with his own eyes.

Logarius gave the Courier a curious glance as he said, "I would have thought your aura was unlocked already judging by the stories the sergeant and captain told." The Huntsman took a few steps towards him as Six analyzed what the man had done.

Joshua figured that Logarius had filled the tunnel with a gas before using the Dust crystal to ignite it. He glanced back spotting the cracked ground indicating where the explosion had reached. It led out into the street before curving and heading straight towards the eastern gate.

"The gas was actually Dust as well, a different kind that reacted violently to my burn Dust crystal," the Huntsman answered Six's unasked question. When the suited man placed a hand on the Courier's shoulder the smile on his face dropped.

"This can't be right," the Huntsman began as Joshua looked at him with a curious expression.

"What isn't," Six asked shrugging off his hand before taking a step back.

Logarius' finger went to his chin tapping faster than ever. "This is a strange little town," he began before glancing towards the sky. "You don't have an Aura. That shouldn't be possible. I mean, everyone has an Aura even if its locked… But…"

The Huntsman's hand went to his hair as he continued, "you don't have one at all, or at least one I can sense. Even a regular person should have some kind of Aura."

Well, that was strange news to hear. As Six thought about it, he came to a few theories. It could be because he was from a different world… Possibly. Or maybe it was because he didn't have his brain? Maybe his "soul" as the locals called it had left with his brain. Since you needed a soul for an aura, maybe he didn't have one?

Both were insane ideas that he'd have to think on later. For now, he'd have to worry about this Huntsman telling someone about this.

"This town really is funny," Logarius commented as he turned back to the hole. "But we'll talk about this later, we should start driving the Grimm out of other holes nearby."

"Wait," Six said holding up his hand. "I have an idea about what is causing the attacks."

The Huntsman turned to him intrigued at his words. The Courier remembered that Logarius had come to investigate the source of the Grimm attacks in the area and he hoped this would put an end to it.

That was when he felt the first drop of rain hit his bandages. Six glanced towards the sky to spot the darkening clouds. If this was like the last attack, they needed to work fast or it would be near pitch black out soon.

"There's a Grimm, pretty damn big one, looks kind of like a snake and a dragon put together, last time it showed up but kept its distance." Joshua paused for a few moments to glance at the broken ground the explosion made leaving a trail. "If we follow the trail, I bet we could get a good idea on where it's at."

"And you think that if we get rid of this Grimm then the attacks will cease," Logarius asked while tapping his chin.

In response Six nodded his head before turning. "The Grimm were never this coordinated before it showed up. At the very least, their tactics should fall apart," the bandaged man spoke as he took a few steps out of the alley.

The Courier raised his hand before pointing towards the eastern gate and saying, "you head that way and wait for me at the gate. We'll have to trust the guard can handle the situation. I'll head back and let the captain know our pla-"

"What plan," Six heard as Lirah interrupted him. The captain had a rifle in hand and looked ready to kill.

Joshua pinched the bridge of his nose before responding, "I think there's a big Grimm coordinating the attacks, we're going to kill it. It's up to you to protect everyone."

"Are you sure it's causing this," the captain asked eyeing the cracked trail in the ground.

"I'm pretty certain, and we don't have time to argue," Six answered as he turned to the Huntsman. "You, get to the gate, I'm going to grab some gear and catch up."

This time there were no questions as the Huntsman set off towards the gate.

* * *

The Courier made good time as he didn't have to run back to the Spring home. Instead, he dipped into an alley before changing into his elite riot gear and heading back out. In total, the Huntsman had been about a minute faster than Six to the gate.

As Joshua approached the gate, he could see the guards in the towers watching something on the other side. It didn't take a genius to figure out who was shooting a gun.

Six quickly moved up to one of the small towers before climbing the ladder and forcing the guard out of his way. What he saw proved how dangerous Huntsman could be.

On the other side were a group of six or so Beowolves all doing their best to hit the Huntsman. The Courier figured there had probably been more at the start considering how nimbly Logarius moved out of their attacks.

The oversized revolver was in the suited Huntsman's hand and a loud shot rang out as one Beowolf dissipated.

Six got to see the Huntsman's speed as two lunged at him at once but the large revolver in his hand seemed to almost morph. The change was quick enough that by the time the two Grimm were on him his gun had transformed into a small shield which he used to block the first's attack. From there Logarius pushed the shield into the creature's stomach and launched it over his head and into the other Grimm.

The suited man paused his assault as another Beowolf rushed him. It looked like the man was studying its movements for only a moment before chucking his shield at it.

The Grimm hadn't been expecting it and received a shield to the face which bounced off and managed to hit another before returning to Logarius.

Six's face scrunched up. How was that even possible? That would require a ridiculous understanding of physics and decent strength to pull something like that off on moving targets. Let alone monsters that were attacking you.

The last Grimm lunged at him but the creature's prey was faster. The Huntsman spun around and hit the Grimm with the end of his shield hard enough that the monster's skull caved in.

Two down, four to go.

As the four creatures got to their feet, the weapon transformed once again back into a revolver. By the time the Grimm knew what was happening, another two of them were dead.

The last two only managed to take a few steps towards Logarius before being shot down themselves.

"Now that's a Huntsman," the guard beside Six muttered causing the Courier to roll his eyes.

Joshua put one foot on the railing of the tower before jumping off and over the wall. It wasn't that high of a jump and he was prepared for it unlike when he had jumped off the worm.

He landed with a small thud as Logarius glanced over towards him. "I take it you're ready," the Huntsman said a small spread across his face. "The trail ends over there but I'm sure all the Grimm came from this direction."

Six turned, he had to agree with the revolver-wielding Huntsman's assessment. Several large holes had been dug and the cracked ground ended at one of them. All the two of them had to do was head into the woods in that direction. It was dangerous but they would be hard-pressed to miss such a large Grimm.

The Courier's thoughts turned to the guards. How had they possibly missed Grimm digging these holes? Right now, he had a job to do, so he'd dwell on that later.

"Yeah," Six replied glancing up towards the darkening sky as a light stream of rain began pouring down. "Let's hurry too."

* * *

At first, the Grimm caused them no hassle. Six didn't realize what was wrong until the two of them had made it a good half a mile into the forest.

The raining had picked up and the sky had darkened to the point that visibility was down. The eerie quiet of the forest didn't help as the only sounds they could hear were their own footsteps.

It was only when the Courier and the Huntsman came upon a small clearing that they realized the problem. There was an absurd amount of Grimm that had converged. It looked like all the Grimm nearby had gathered here.

If the last horde of Grimm had been a little over a hundred strong, this one was twice the size. And now that the two of them had seen the Grimm, Joshua knew that coming out here instead of waiting had been a mistake.

Unfortunately, the Grimm had also seen them.

"Run or shoot," Six muttered as he backed up and aimed his survivalist rifle.

"Both," the Huntsman replied turning and sprinting with inhuman speed into the forest.

The Courier could do that and he was almost as fast as Logarius as he began running as well. That was when the worst possible problem occurred.

On the positive side, they no longer needed to find the dragon-like Grimm. On the negative side, it had found them. Now that they were close to the thing the Courier could make out its form better.

The creature like its brothers had a pitch-black hide. Its skin seemed to emit some kind of black smoke-like substance. The creature had the head and wings of a European dragon but its body was far too long, coiling around several trees.

It easily towered over the trees around them as it stood up on its two legs. If Six had to guess, it was shorter than the worm at about fifty feet. The worm had been bordering on a hundred. The thing was longer than it was tall though, its snake-like body slithering towards them.

"I'm guessing that's the creature," the Huntsman shouted out as he opened fire on it.

Six didn't respond as he turned back to the swarm of Grimm. They were flanked from the front and back by a giant Grimm and a giant army of Grimm.

"Go left, I'll go right, split up," Six barked at the Huntsman as he turned and fled. The group of Grimm would split up to chase both of them, right?

The Courier ran for a few moments before glancing behind himself. His eyes widened in alarm as he realized that they hadn't split up at all and the Grimm had elected to run straight for him. This was getting increasingly bad.

Six dematerialized his rifle before grabbing a few of his grenades, pulling the pin, and tossing them behind him. A few explosions rang out but he didn't bother checking how many he got, it wasn't enough.

The Nidhogg's tail slammed down in front of him. The Courier refused to die today as he pulled out his variant gauss rifle and fired his last few remaining max charge microfusion cells. It hurt to use the last of them but the effects were immediate, blowing holes through the creature's tail.

The Grimm let out a roar of pain as it began lifting its tail and slamming it against the ground.

Six didn't stop running and dove under the tail managing to not get smashed under it. This bought him a few seconds of breathing room as the Grimm paused at the tail.

The Courier knew that he wasn't going to get away from the Nidhogg so he'd have to think of something. The gauss rifle dematerialized as the anti-material rifle appeared. He hadn't properly modified the weapon yet but he had made a single round, just one for it. A .50 caliber Dust round was his best bet at the moment. Otherwise, he'd just have to use the rest of his C4 and blow up the whole damn forest.

A quick prayer escaped Six's lips as he loaded the round. The dragon-like Grimm had rounded on him as it raised on arm. To his surprise, the arm seemed to extend and stretch, immediately heading for him at impressive speeds.

Joshua took aim, bit his lip, and pulled the trigger.

There was a loud bang and Six felt his hands shake in his hand as his weapon fell apart. He'd have to take time to fix his anti-material rifle but the results were impressive.

The Dust round hadn't just been regular Dust. It had been filled with fire Dust or burn Dust for the technical name.

The explosion had been larger than his explosive rounds and it continued to burn the creature after as well.

The Nidhogg itself had a large chunk of its face vanish in the explosion and was currently using its extendable arm to try and put out the fire on its face. The creature let out a shriek and the advancing Grimm paused.

It turned its head away from Six and spotted the Huntsman who had come back around. The thing glanced between the two for a few moments before leaping into the sky.

Its wings expanded and it fucking flew. The Courier tried to catch his breath as he watched the Grimm fly away at seemingly impossible speeds. How did wings possibly carry that gigantic thing?

As it flew away, the sky around them seemed to brighten and the rain lessened. The Grimm themselves seemed to pause for a few seconds until a distant roar rang out. The moment passed and the Grimm all turned tail and ran towards the direction their leader had gone.

Six took a knee as he picked up the fallen pieces of his rifle. The thing was smarter than it appeared and kind of a coward. It thought its life was actually in danger so it ran. That was a first in Grimm history, right?

As he was picking up the pieces, the Huntsman approached.

"We need to talk," Logarius said, Six spotting the unnerved expression on his face.

Joshua finished picking up the pieces before moving over to a tree and leaning against it. "About what," Six asked closing his eyes. He needed to rest; not as bad as when he had nearly blown himself up but he was still tired.

"You."

"Me," Six replied before crossing his arms.

"That was not normal, in fact, that might be the strangest thing I've ever seen. No one in the entire history of Remnant has seen Grimm act like that." The Huntsman's words were quick and his finger had gone back to tapping his chin.

"In fact, I think you're the cause of the attacks," he continued making Six's eyes open.

The Courier shot a finger towards the Huntsman as he replied, "you're saying this is my fault?"

"Not directly," Logarius answered as he took a step closer. "There are too many things suspicious about this though. From what the captain's told me, the Grimm started attacking like this when you showed up." At the end of his sentence, the Huntsman held up one finger.

The suited man's second finger went up as he continued, "you don't have an aura which shouldn't be possible yet you withstood the explosion and survived. The Grimm having tactics shouldn't be possible."

The Huntsman was already up to three fingers now. "You were almost as fast as me, a trained Huntsman, without aura," he said holding up a fourth finger.

"And finally," he began as he held up his thumb making the count five. "The Grimm went solely after you when we split up."

This guy was more perceptive than the Courier gave credit for.

"It's also strange, most Huntsman can sense strong Auras by instinct. When we concentrate, we can even sense the auras of those yet to unlock their own. Trackers can do it for miles." The Huntsman's finger now pointed at Six. "When I first met you, I wasn't sure because I thought you just had a weak aura."

"Now, I'm sure, you're not natural and the Grimm are attacking this town to get to you," Logarius finished before lowering his finger.

Six had come to the same conclusions himself but the Huntsman sensing ability was interesting to learn.

"And," Six said before shrugging his shoulders. "What are you going to do about it now?"

"That's simple," the Huntsman replied. "I was sent here to find the source of the increased attacks. I've found it. To complete my mission and keep Rhyt safe, I'll take you to Beacon and to Ozpin."

Oh no, Six couldn't have that yet. He didn't want to be in the spotlight of someone with that much political influence yet. He needed more time to prepare, to learn.

"No can do, I'm not going anywhere," Six replied as he reached behind his back. He had a theory he wanted to test in the next minute or two and it would determine if he lived or died.

"Then I'm afraid I'll have to subdue you before taking you," Logarius replied with the ever-so-happy tone.

The two both drew their revolvers. Six with his Mysterious Magnum and Logarius with his bright orange and grey revolver.

The first shot was from Six who was used to fighting human opponents. The Huntsman was no more than five feet away from him which meant missing would be near impossible for him.

The suited-man let out a pained yelp as the round penetrated his leg causing him to drop to one knee. Six wasted little time and used the opportunity to bring his boot to the man's face.

With the man's aura, the Butcher of House knew he had to end this quickly or he'd heal. The fully armored Courier charged before stomping on the man's gun-hand, pinning it.

Logarius' free hand went to Six's leg but a .44 round to the shoulder stopped that.

"W-Why, why isn't my aura," the Huntsman stuttered out as he bled from two bullet wounds. The stupid grin had finally fallen from his face.

"Honestly, I guessed I'd be able to do it, but I only have theories on why," Six replied as he used his free foot to press Logarius' shoulder down.

Joshua inspected his revolver glancing down at the Huntsman to make sure he didn't get away. "Maybe it's because of not having an aura, maybe I don't have a soul? Maybe it's because I might not be from this world? They always did call me the Wild Card King. It would be pretty "wild" if I was from a different world, right?" The joke seemed to fly over the Huntsman's head or maybe the injured man didn't care.

"W-What," Logarius responded trying to kick his feet to get Six off of him. None of this made sense to the Huntsman. Other worlds?

"It doesn't matter, you see I can't let you go and tell someone about me so I'm going to have to check you out," Six continued as he glanced at the now clear sky before looking down at the Huntsman.

A soft smile graced the Courier's lips under the mask. "Hey, if it makes you feel any better, it's nothing personal," Six said aiming the gun at Logarius' head.

"A real shame you got mixed up in my business…" The Butcher of House turned his free hand over trying to elicit a response as he said, "got a full name for the tombstone?"

There were a few long moments of silence as the defiance in the Huntsman's eyes died. A small smile spread across the man's face as he responded, "Thomas, Thomas Logarius."

"Well Thomas, this must all seem like a string of bad luck to you, truth is…" Six paused as his finger began squeezing the trigger.

"You never stood a chance."

* * *

The Courier whistled a low tune as he stepped back out of the forest and into the clearing towards town. That had taken care of the attack at least. Any Grimm in town would have probably fallen back with their leader.

It was messy businesses digging a large enough hole for the Huntsman but he had done it. Even carved his name into the tree next to him as a tombstone. Shame he had to leave the Huntsman's equipment in the grave but the revolver was too flashy to hide.

It occurred to the Courier that his words had been eerily reminiscent of Benny's when the guy had shot in him in the head. He quickly shook his head clearing his mind of such thoughts for now. He had a lie to sell.

He waved at one of the guards before shouting, "hey, we drove them back. Tell the captain the leader Grimm ran away but he'll be back and that the Huntsman went to chase it."

Now he had a convenient alibi for why Thomas had disappeared. The Huntsman unfortunately died while chasing down the Grimm.

It didn't take long for him to make it back to the Spring household and he opened the door to be greeted by Richter and Carmine.

"How did it go," the father asked and Six shrugged.

"Alright," Joshua responded moving over to pat Carmine on the head before continuing, "and Logarius already left to go chase down the runners. I don't think we'll be seeing him again."

The red-haired girl pouted before giving him sad eyes. "I wanted to talk to him more," she said as Six smirked under his mask.

"I know you did but he has Huntsman business. If you'll excuse me, I need some rest, just got back from fighting Grimm and all," Six said not waiting for a reply as he made his way to his room.

After shutting the door behind him, he let out a sigh. He was a pretty good liar but with the fights he was worn out and didn't really feel like lying through that conversation right now.

What he could use was fixing his rifle that was broken. The Courier moved over to his desk before sitting down and materializing the broken rifle parts.

He set to work as he thought about the events of today. Why did he not have an aura? And how did that equate to him being able to shoot through the Huntsman's?

More importantly, the Grimm was going to be back. Logarius hadn't been wrong to say that him leaving would make the town safer. He'd give himself some time to prepare before heading out. He always knew that he'd have to set out eventually and that this would end.

Still, he could research and get himself supplied more before he did. He'd probably head to Vale first when he set out, that's where all the main players seemed to be after all and he could get supplies to fix his transportalponder.

The Courier took a quick sniff before realizing the front part of him was still blackened from the explosion, he probably stank to high hell. He was going to need to take a shower but the reconstruction of his anti-material rifle took precedent for now.

* * *

Author's Note:

I'm glad you've stuck with this story and I hope you continue to enjoy it!

I hope you all enjoyed it!

And don't worry, we'll be meeting a character from the show soon enough!

* * *

Current Gear:

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear

Modified Stealth Suit Mk. II

Light Shining in Darkness

Mysterious Magnum

Rebreather

Maria

Survivalist Rifle

Modified Anti-Material Rifle.

YCS/186 Gauss Rifle variant.

C4 – Plastic explosives (10)

Detonator.

Frag Grenades (5)

Frag Mines (0)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades (10)


	9. Chapter 8: Past Mistakes

Author's Note:

Alright, another small update for everyone. I plan on sticking to the 2,500 words for each chapter for now. I have a couple of people who want it and I need to post the same question in the other main story I'm writing and shorter chapters will get a faster response.

So, as for an update schedule. I'll upload this chapter and the next, sticking to the once a week upload. Then this story is going on a short hiatus while I work on my other story. I'll still be uploading once a week but I'll be working on the other story until I've finished its arc. Then I'll switch back to this one.

 _"Text"_

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

 _Chapter 8: Past Mistakes_

* * *

How long had he been on Remnant now? Six wasn't completely sure but since he now had access to a browser, he could keep track of time. About a week passed since the Huntsman had shown up in Rhyt and subsequently "disappeared." Even if the academies sent someone to investigate, they'd have a hard time linking anything to him since the evidence was disposed of.

The more annoying issue that surfaced because of the incident was fixing his broken anti-material rifle. The Courier spent the week shifting tasks from assisting the Spring family, researching the world, fixing his gun, and preparing to leave.

The last point had been progressing slowly as he was simply gathering supplies and lien for his journey. Unfortunately, he earned little lien as he was working for Richter who was taking his living expenses out of his paycheck. Likewise, he'd ordered replacement parts for his rifle which weren't cheap being so far from the capital.

Once he got the replacement parts, fixed his gun, and earned a good amount of lien, he'd finally be ready to leave.

He had amassed enough knowledge about the general world and how it functioned that he felt he could hold a passing conversation without outing his lack of knowledge. This meant he could go to Beacon, gather supplies, and begin rebuilding his transportalponder.

Right now, he wasn't doing any of that. The former ruler of Vegas was currently holding Carmine's hand as the two walked down the street towards the market.

Richter needed groceries and supplies and the two were tasked with acquiring them which gave the Courier plenty of time to think.

After the Courier rested that day, he had gone to speak with both Carmine and Richter about the Huntsman. The red-headed girl took most of his answers in stride and even enjoyed his exciting story. The old man was the problem.

Six's story worked to mostly convince the elderly gentlemen that Logarius had indeed gone after the Grimm. After all, the Huntsman was the one who said he was hunting the source of Grimm activity.

But Joshua could tell, the old man's eyes still held a level of distrust. No one knew better than Carmine's father that Six kept many secrets. He doubted the old man would ever truly come to trust him.

"Joshua," the girl said turning her head to him.

Six turned towards her in turn before replying, "yes?"

"You've traveled a lot, right?" Now he was curious where her line of questions was going.

"Yes," the Courier said again as he turned away from her and looked out over the various stands and shops. He settled to get groceries first as the two walked towards a stand with a familiar-looking Faunus.

The girl tightened her grip on his hand and opened her mouth but was interrupted by the merchant.

"What're ya buying," the merchant said giving them a smile but eyeing Six. It was the bat Faunus the two had met during their first venture to the market. The one he had stared at to the point of making her uncomfortable.

Joshua glanced down at the list Richter had given them and realized that Scarred Tom was also on the list. Just a general supply run for some dust but…

His gaze shifted towards the girl at his side. "Here," Six said handing some lien and the list to her. "Buy the groceries on this list, I'll be right back so don't leave this spot."

She had gone to the market alone before so Six figured it was probably fine if he left her for five minutes. He just needed to go get the Dust from Tom and come back so she didn't have to see him and she'd get the groceries while he was doing that.

While he wasn't in his Elite Riot armor, the bandages of the Burned Man still made for an intimidating sight as Tom watched him enter the shop.

"Need some dust," Six said throwing some lien on the counter and staring the man down.

The shop-owner leaned down to grab something behind the counter as he replied, "what kind?"

"Nothin' fancy, just some plain ole dust, powder variety." The Courier's hand went to the counter after he spoke, tapping it slowly.

Another few moments of silence passed as Tom scrounged around for the dust. There was something that was eating at Six. Sure, a lot of the townspeople didn't talk to Carmine, but almost none of them were as openly hostile as Tom.

"Say," Joshua began as his fingers tapped faster, "you got a reason to dislike the kid so much?"

The merchant stopped moving behind the counter for a few moments as Six's words. There was the quiet sound of someone clicking their tongue before Tom straightened his back.

With a glare, the salesman placed the dust on the counter before replying, "if ya gotta know, she beat the shit out of my kid a year back. She's a troublemaker and her pa ain't any better. She and her pa should both be run out of town if ya as me."

Well, that explained part of it, his own kid was the one who had lost a fight with Carmine.

Six picked up the dust and stuffed it in a sack before replying, "you don't think that's a little unfair? It's been a year and she's doing her absolute best to make amends. Plus, without her father, the town wouldn't have the supplies needed to fend off Grimm."

Tom crossed his arms over his chest before shrugging. "Maybe, but I ain't in the business of bein' forgivin'."

"Just think about it," Six responded trying to be as diplomatic as possible. He did want to punch this guy in the face for being an ass but he figured that wouldn't help Carmine in the long run. Plus he was planning on taking off soon anyways.

"Sure, whatever," the shopkeeper replied as Six turned to leave. As soon as he got to the door, he saw two kids surrounding Carmine.

One of the kids had a rather large grin across his face and fiery red hair. The kid looked a little too happy to be standing behind Carmine.

The other was a kid with black hair and a sneer that looked like it would never come off his face. Where had Joshua seen that before? A quick glance back towards Tom revealed everything he needed to know. Black hair, pale complexion, the forever frown. That had to be Tom's kid.

Carmine looked like she was on the verge of tears at whatever the two were saying.

Six turned back to Tom deciding to be diplomatic about it and not going out there to beat some ass. "Hey Tom, come get your kid before I go out there and throttle him," Joshua said before holding the door open for him. Six figured Tom was a man of pride based on the way he had spoken to the two of them. This way they'd stop picking on Carmine but nothing would come to violence and make the girl look bad.

There was a quick glance of curiosity from the shop-owner before he moved over to the door. The look from curiosity to absolute fury made Six smirk. This was going to be good.

"Dust damnit boy," Tom shouted as he flew out the front door in a rage. "Ya know you ain't supposed to be doing that kind of shit anymore! Get inside now before I give you a whoopin' that'll leave you limpin' into next week!"

The merchant, who Six realized wasn't all that nice to his kid, grabbed his boy by his black hair before yanking him back towards the door. Joshua gracefully stepped aside as the red-haired boy fled and Tom's son was dragged inside.

With the sound of the door slamming, Six figured everything was settled as he made his way back towards Carmine. The look on Carmine's face told him otherwise.

The girl was still nearly in tears and he didn't want her breaking down in the middle of the square. The pieces of shit around him didn't even bother to try and comfort a girl getting bullied. Assholes.

"Hey kid, come with me," Six said taking her by the hand and leading her away from the market. They had the groceries and the dust, that was enough for today.

The Courier led Carmine a block away from the market before turning a corner onto a relatively quiet road.

"You okay," he asked kneeling down in front of her and setting the dust down. Carmine followed suit setting the groceries down before shaking her head no.

She was sniffling and wiping at her eyes as Six sat there rather awkwardly. He still wasn't used to the whole "comforting others" thing. Joshua carefully wrapped his arms around her.

"It's okay, it's okay, why don't you start by telling me why they were messing with you." The former ruler of Vegas could handle hordes of raiders but could barely connect to a little girl. Veronica would probably laugh at him right now.

"Th-They don't like me. When I still… Hurt people… I hurt Pine bad and his dad never let it go." Carmine's words were shaky as her small arms tried to wrap around him.

Joshua let her gain her bearings a bit more before asking, "and the red-haired boy?"

Her hands squeezed his vest as she answered, "he's always been mean. Pine was always a bully but he never hurt anyone until he started listening to Cerise."

"When papa, was sad, and everyone was mean to him, I was mad at them. Then I saw Pine and Cerise being mean to everyone and I got really angry." Her words were coming in a little clearer now as she tried to compose herself. "One day, they went after me, and I hurt them. After that, I couldn't stop."

Six's hand went to her head as he slowly patted her. "They were calling me a monster today, saying I hurt people, I know they just want me to fight so the adults will get mad again." At least she was smart enough to not fall for their tricks.

"Then we'll make them stop, Pine I already in trouble with his dad and Cerise has parents somewhere I'm sure," Six replied doing his best to comfort her.

In response, Carmine shook her head before replying, "that's not why I'm crying. I… I was angry. I was so angry at them that I thought I was going to hurt them until Tom came out. Now that it's over, I'm scared that I'll go back to how I used to be. That I'll disappoint Papa and you."

Okay, this was something she definitely needed to talk to her father about and not some stranger she'd know for a month and a half.

"Hey, it's okay, it's not easy to get over who you were before. Of course you're going to have moments where you want to go back, but do you know what the important thing is?" Six stopped his words to glance down at her.

The red-haired girl glanced upward with tear-filled yet curious eyes. "No?"

"That you stopped yourself," he answered doing his best to smile through his bandages. "As long as you can keep stopping yourself when you feel that anger, eventually it'll get easier. It's not about being perfect but improving yourself every day, a little at a time."

A small smile crossed the girl's face and Joshua figured he was doing something right. She buried her face into his vest before replying, "thanks, Joshua."

"No problem" he replied sitting there and waiting for her to be ready. They could stay like this as long as she needed.

It didn't last that long though as within a minute she had pulled back to wipe her eyes. Carmine took a few deep breaths before saying, "I-I'm ready to go home."

"That's fine, we've got everything we need," Six replied picking up both the dust and the groceries in one hand before offering his other had to her.

"Do you think I'll ever get to explore the world like you," she asked her eyes losing their focus.

"Yeah," he responded with a curious glance down at her.

Carmine took his hand before glancing towards the horizon and saying, "Joshua."

He shrugged before responding, "if you work hard enough and want to."

A small smile crept across her face as she wiped her eyes one last time. "Let's go home," Joshua said as the two walked back towards the Spring home.

* * *

Author's Note:

One more chapter before my first planned "arc" for the story is done!

* * *

Current Gear:

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear

Modified Stealth Suit Mk. II

Light Shining in Darkness

Mysterious Magnum

Rebreather

Maria

Survivalist Rifle

Modified Anti-Material Rifle.

YCS/186 Gauss Rifle variant.

C4 – Plastic explosives (10)

Detonator.

Frag Grenades (5)

Frag Mines (0)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades (10)


	10. Chapter 9: Of Ice Cream and Torches

Author's Note:

Gonna save most of the thank you and such after the chapter. Stick around if you want to hear my plan for continuing this story and general updates.

" _Text_ "

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

 _Chapter 9: Of Ice Cream and Torches_

* * *

"You made the bullets," Six asked looking over the supplies he had gathered so far.

"Yep," Carmine answered a confident smirk on her face.

"You've done your exercises for the day?" Joshua punctuated his question by dematerializing the supplies on the small table.

"Yep," she answered again.

This time the Courier paused his questioning to look down at her. A smirk crossed his face under the bandages as he continued, "did you remember not to get a big head?"

A small pout formed on the girl's face in response as the former ruler of Vegas patted her head.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." The bandaged man knew he had to placate her or he'd receive another earful about how he needed to stop messing with her and to treat her like an adult.

"Good," Carmine responded before turning on her heel and heading for the door.

Six materialized a small candy he had bought at the market a few days ago before saying, "lookout," and tossing it towards her.

The red-haired girl turned in time to catch the candy in her hands. "Good job on your training," Joshua complimented as he turned back to the table.

A small spread across Carmine's face as she left the room practically radiating.

About two weeks had passed since the duo's trip to the market and Six had gotten most of his supplies prepared. Food, water, clothing, lien, and the basic supplies to get to Vale and blend in.

That also meant he had been on Remnant for two months according to the dates he had been keeping track of. Give or take a week.

He had already gotten the supplies and repaired his anti-material rifle and since he had rebuilt it from scratch, Six gave it the ability to fire dust rounds as well. While the dust bullets didn't have the same impact and velocity of gunpowder rounds, when you combined it with burn dust, they exploded with even more intensity than his regular exploding rounds.

He had all the weapons and supplies he needed to get to Vale and to have enough funds to live there until finding a job. He could technically leave today but the Courier was nothing if not cautious. He wanted to have a surplus of ammo and lien before getting there. Six figured he'd wait another week or so before leaving.

"Lunch is ready," Richter called out from the kitchen.

Six packed up what he was doing before moving out of his door and to the makeshift dining table the Spring family had set up.

This was the thing Six liked best about this world, the food. Even after two months of Remnant food the Courier's mouth watered at the sight of toasted bread, tomatoes, bacon, and several drinks lined out.

Granted, some of the items were the wrong colors. The meat wasn't brown but rather a darkened orange as the meat hadn't come from a pig but rather whatever the people of Remnant ate. The tomatoes were a pink color and the bread was the only item that was the right brownish color.

"Looks good," Six commented as he pulled a chair out before sitting down. He always hated this part but there really wasn't any avoiding it. Joshua pulled the bandages away from his mouth which rustled the rest of his bandages; it was an uncomfortable feeling.

The two Spring family members stopped asking questions after the first week or two about his bandages which he appreciated but he did catch them staring from time to time.

"Good job papa," Carmine complimented as she sat down as well.

The older man let out a chuckle before sitting down and responding, "well I do try."

Joshua went through the motions of making his sandwich as Richter glanced at him and said, "I think it's time I addressed something I've noticed."

Both Carmine and Six looked up giving him curious glances.

"Joshua, I know you've been stocking up and getting everything ready to leave. I only have two questions." At the end of Richter's sentence, Carmine gave him a pleading and almost betrayed look.

"When did you plan to tell us and when do you plan to leave?" At Richter's words, Six's hand went to the table and began tapping. How was he going to phrase this?

"As you know, I'm a courier," Joshua began as his finger-tapping intensified. "I've grown used to traveling and frankly I've only ever even considered settling down in one place."

Carmine's look grew almost dejected as she listened to his words like it was finally sinking in for her. It was slightly killing Six on the inside but it wouldn't deter him.

The Courier's other hand scratched the back of his head as he continued, "I was always going to move on it was just a matter of when. I originally planned to tell you in a couple of days when I was packed and be gone by the end of the week."

The two Spring family members remained silent as Six sighed. "You've both done well by me and I do plan on repaying your kindness but I can't do that if I stay here," Courier Six said as he looked out a window and into the distance.

Before he could continue, Carmine left her seat before running out of the room. Most likely running for her own room. The Courier made a displeased clicking noise as she ran out of the room.

"Listen, Joshua," Richter began as Six rose out of his seat and held up his hand.

"Give me a minute," Joshua replied as he moved towards the door before stopping. His eyes turned back towards Richter as he said, "you both deserve better than this shitty little town can give you." With that, he moved towards where Carmine had run off to.

It didn't take him long to make it to her room. He opened the wooden door to be greeted by Carmine laying face down on her bed.

The girl's room hadn't changed much in the past couple of months and he had only ever gone in her room a select few times. It was barren for a child lacking any toys one would expect. Instead, books and various tools lay about the room.

Upon closer inspection, several of the tools looked to be ones he had given her and taught her how to use. On the girl's desk lay gun parts and a knife. She was taking after him more than he thought.

"Doing alright," Six asked stepping towards her bed. She didn't respond deciding to lay still on her bed which egged Joshua to continue, "I know you're upset with me…"

This time she turned away from him and he let out a sigh. This felt like something her father should be doing not him but he was here and Richter wasn't.

The Courier moved over to the edge of her bed before sitting down and saying, "it's tough, I know. Having people leave, almost disappear on you, but I'm not disappearing forever."

The girl turned her head and eyed him out of the corner of her eye.

"There's such a thing as visiting you know," Joshua said while crossing his arms and giving her an indignant look. "Think of me as a traveling relative."

Six didn't know if he'd truly call the Spring family his family but it was what she wanted to hear so he'd say it. It seemed to do the trick too as she looked more receptive to him as she turned to face him.

"You won't disappear on me," she asked which caused Six to wonder where the rest of the Spring family was. It couldn't possibly be just these two people, right?

"Of course," Joshua replied before giving her a thumbs up. He set it down before continuing, "but we both know I can't stay; I've been wandering since I was young and I can't stop now. But I'll visit and always cherish the memories here."

He had only known them for two or so months but these were going to be some long-lasting memories. A world not burned by fire, a child he had helped raise for a bit, and all the possibilities were not something he'd forget easily.

"How often," Carmine asked sitting up in her bed with a new look of determination in her eyes.

In response, Joshua shrugged before replying, "once a year."

"Nope," the girl replied looking dead at him, "twice a year, your only option."

This caused the Courier to chuckle. She was haggling his time. "Fine, fine, I can't possibly handle your shrewd negotiations," Six answered throwing up his hands in mock surrender.

This seemed to please the red-haired girl as a smile spread across her face. It was obvious that she wasn't happy that he was leaving but it seemed she had gotten what she wanted.

"And, I'll leave that," Six began as he pointed towards the taken apart gun on her desk. "To you, consider it a gift."

Honestly, he just wanted to make this less painful for her so he was going to give her the Burned Man's gun. At his own line of thought, Six's eyes widened. He just gave away the Light Shining in Darkness. What had he done? Not only was it a good gun but it was given to him by Joshua, the real one.

The Courier let out a groan as he leaned forward and put his head in his hands. Thankfully he had taught her how to maintain the gun and was pretty sure she would.

The small arms that wrapped around his side and the "thank you" that came from Carmine made the whole thing more bearable though.

"Yeah, sure…" Six's words were slow as he took in the moment, patting her head. "I'm sorry I have to leave."

"It's oka-" Carmine began before being cut off by a knock at the door.

Joshua carefully removed Carmine from his side before standing up and moving towards the window. A quick peer outside revealed their new guest.

A man in a two-piece suit with a black bowler hat and cane was standing outside the door with a wide grin on his face. This guy definitely wasn't a local.

"Carmine, stay in your room for now," Six said as he moved out of her room, closing the door behind him.

The Courier didn't head straight for the door, instead opting to sit right around the corner of the hall that led to the door. He wanted to be able to listen in without being seen. This guy could just be some distant customer of Richter.

The older man answered the door, opening it and asking, "something I can do for you?"

"Hello," the stranger greeted overenunciating his hello. "I'm Torch, just Torch. I heard you've got a stranger living in your house, right?" The way he talked meant he knew Six was here and was more asking to see him.

This was probably about the Huntsman he offed, was this guy a Huntsman too? It was best to not take chances.

Six stopped listening as he moved towards his room. It took him a couple of minutes but he was soon back this time dressed in his elite riot armor. He wasn't going to let this guy give him the run around like Logarius.

When he stepped back to the corner and into the hall so he could see Richter and the stranger, the cane-wielding man had moved into the house. The stranger sported fiery red hair and was currently leaning his cane against a wall in front of Richter.

"I know he's here," the stranger said, his tone now far less amused. Though the look on his face went back to "friendly" when he saw Six. The guy had sharp features and an almost feline-like smile.

"Just the man I was looking for," Torch said as he took a step towards Six. "You and I need to talk."

"No, we really don't," Joshua responded as he took a step forward as well before continuing, "I suggest you leave."

The smile on the man's face only grew wider as he responded, "come on big dark and brooding. I think you'll find me a good friend." Torch let his words sink in before saying, "and besides, I have a theory I want to run by you."

Six put a hand on the man's shoulder as he said, "leave. I won't ask again." This did little to dissuade the man though his eyes did dart to the hand and his smile dropped slightly.

"You see," the man said ignoring Six's words. "I think you killed that Huntsman a couple weeks ago."

This got Six and Richter's attention. The old man had his suspicions but this man was going to confirm them.

The grip on the man's shoulder tightened to almost painful levels as the Butcher of House responded, "got anything to back that up?"

"Nothing solid," Torch admitted as he threw up his hands in a nonchalant manner. "But… You showed up two months ago, roughly, and then all the Grimm started acting up."

Six knew where this was going. The red-haired nuisance held up a hand pointing at Joshua as he said, "Beacon sends a guy to investigate. He finds a heavily armed stranger that lives in a local family's home, he starts asking questions…"

Torch's other hand raised up as he made air quotations before saying, "a Grimm attack "happens" to occur the day he shows up and the Huntsman "disappears" to go fight them."

This was when the man's smile grew to new levels. "But the only person who saw the Huntsman before he disappeared… Was you, the suspect." Torch's words nearly caused Six to strangle the man there.

"So," the man said stepping away from the Courier's grasp as Six let him go. "Imagine what would happen if I brought all of this to the administrators of Beacon, the Council, and Ozpin…"

"Brave words from a man alone and threatening someone who could break his spine in two," Six replied his hand moving to Torch's throat and grasping it.

Torch didn't respond but his smile remained, he glanced to the side and narrowed his eyes. Before Joshua knew what was happening, a small blade had penetrated his shoulder.

As Six dropped the stranger, he quickly glanced past Torch and Richter to see a woman as Torch spoke, "who said I came alone?"

The blade was pulled out and tossed back at the woman who shattered into tiny glass shards. What the hell?

The Courier flipped his compass implants on to see two red markers. One was Torch and the other was standing just outside of the door and to the side, hiding.

A quick motion and Six's .44 revolver was in his hand. This would have been a risky shot for anyone other than the Courier as he shot past Torch and Richter to hit the wall and shoot through it.

A slight hissing noise came from the other side of the wall as the woman once more stepped into view. The marker on his compass confirmed this was the real one. Whatever tricks she had wouldn't work now.

It also looked like the bullet hadn't penetrated her aura though it did appear that she felt the impact as she was rubbing her shoulder. His "aura-penetrating" abilities—whatever they were—didn't appear to work at this distance.

"Quick work," Torch commented as he took a step back, his look of confidence not quite there now. "All the more reason you should join us."

Six narrowed his eyes at the red-haired man before glancing over to the woman. "Because, luckily for you, we don't like the people in power right now," Torch said before leaning in and whispering, "and this might be hard to believe, but I'm not a big fan of the local law enforcement."

As the man spoke, Six looked the woman over. Different colored eyes, multi-colored hair that matched her eyes, an umbrella, and a similar outfit to Torch. Unlike Torch, she appeared to be the brawn to their partnership.

Noticing Six's gaze, the uninvited guest turned to his partner before saying, "this is N. Don't mind her, she doesn't talk." At his words, N rolled her eyes although Six wasn't sure why.

"And side note," the suited stranger continued as he pointed towards Richter. "This family that's been taking care of you, you don't accept this deal, we make you and them disappear."

The Courier's gun moved towards Torch as Six replied, "what makes you think you have the strength to make us disappear?"

The smile returned to Torch as he replied, "because we're a small part of a much bigger operation." Before Six could respond, the intruder held up a hand and continued, "and there are benefits for you joining. Other than the whole not dying thing."

"Our line of business is very lucrative," the man said as he turned and held up a hand before closing it. "And you can make a good profit from joining us."

That was more tempting than the intruder realized, despite the fact he was also threatening Six and his companions. He needed funding and information. This group could likely provide both though with risk. Plus, they were obviously illegal which means they weren't registered in whatever system this world had.

Before Torch could continue Six cut him off, "deal."

This caused the man to pause and slowly turned towards Six before saying, "that was… Easy."

"We will talk about payment though," Joshua continued as he stepped past Torch before spotting N staring at something past him.

The Courier turned to see Carmine peeking out from around the corner. The smirk on N's face hadn't been good either.

"Go to your room, and stay safe," Six said knowing that he wasn't going to get a chance to say goodbye. He turned back to see N waving at Carmine before saying, "and you, stay away from her if you know what's good for you."

After speaking, he turned to his new employer before saying, "wait outside, I need to grab my gear." Torch opened his mouth to speak as Six took a step towards him. The Courier stood a good half a foot taller in his armor than the uninvited guest. "It's not up for debate." He didn't want these two around this family for longer than a few minutes let alone a day.

Joshua was not happy as he stepped into his tiny little room for the last time. Luckily, he had his gear all ready for this event and enough lien to last him awhile.

He dematerialized most of it before packing the rest in a small backpack. He didn't want them to realize what his Pip-Boy did yet. He'd keep his armor on for now as they traveled, there was no reason for them to know what his other outfit looked like.

As he turned to the door, he spotted a tear-ridden Carmine looking at him.

"It's okay, I'll be back someday," Six commented as he stepped towards her but the girl didn't reply. Instead, she held up a white flower before saying, "take this with you, it's a chrysanthemum. They aren't from around here but I wanted to give you something to remember me by."

A small smile graced Six under his mask as he responded, "of course, thank you. I won't forget you and Richter." He leaned down to give the girl one last hug.

"Come back, please, I can't handle… Handle…" Her words stuttered off as she began openly crying.

The two remained like that for a few minutes. The girl crying and him holding her. After her tears eventually dried, he leaned back before patting her head.

"Don't worry, I'll stay safe and come back," Six said standing up and heading for the door. "Remember I'm invincible," he said in a confident tone before leaving. Hopefully, that would ease her fears a little.

When he stepped outside, he gave only a passing glance to Richter who nodded his head. At least the old man would keep his secret for now though Six wasn't sure why. He also hoped the old man would help Carmine move past this.

The first few steps Six took outside felt heavy. There was something about leaving this place that really nagged at him. Maybe he really did enjoy it here?

"You ready," Torch asked while leaning against the wall. His other new companion simply smiled at him before walking past.

"Ready," Six replied taking a few steps after N before saying, "call me Courier Six, or whatever version of that you like." It finally clicked for Six where this guy was from, a news article; wasn't he a wanted criminal?

"Call me Roman Torchwick, that's Neopolitan," the man now dubbed Roman replied pointing at himself and then the girl. "But call her Neo, she doesn't like her full name."

From the glare the woman was giving him, Six would have to agree. He didn't have time for that though. It was time to start grilling this guy for information.

"Where are we heading," the Courier asked his hand remaining close to his firearm just in case they tried something.

Torchwick placed his cane on his shoulder in a relaxed manner as they continued walking. "To a base just outside Beacon, we'll be working with some other people and the White Fang so I hope that doesn't bug you."

Great, he was working with terrorists now. "Not at all," Six replied preparing himself for a long journey and an even longer job.

Joshua wasn't really sure why but he found himself looking back at the Spring home forlornly and managed to spot Carmine glancing at him out of her window. He waved at her; this was going to be the last time he saw her for at least awhile.

* * *

Author's Note:

And the first arc is complete! Glad you guys stuck it out with me. This was the first planned introductory arc of the story. I plan for several different arcs and this story is not dying but will definitely be on hiatus for a while.

I'm going to be working on other projects for a bit. Essentially the "Tales from Purgatory" story that's the sequel to "A Hunter Out of Place," my first completed story. After I get that adequately resolved, then I'll start working on this story once again. I'm hoping to start working on this again within six months.

Other than that, I want to thank you all for reading this. Every response has meant a lot to me and I appreciate the criticisms and critiques. I like to believe I'm getting better as a writer over time and not worse and that's thanks to all of you.

There's not much else to say so I'll leave you with a little bit of a teaser. I called this arc the "Town of Rhyt" arc. The next arc is nicknamed "The Right Man for the Wrong Job" (may be subject to change).

* * *

Current Gear:

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear

Modified Stealth Suit Mk. II

Light Shining in Darkness

Mysterious Magnum

Rebreather

Maria

Survivalist Rifle

Modified Anti-Material Rifle.

YCS/186 Gauss Rifle variant.

C4 – Plastic explosives (10)

Detonator.

Frag Grenades (5)

Frag Mines (0)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades (10)


	11. Chapter 10: Home Away from Home

Author's Note:

I know, I said I was gonna work on my other story next but this one has just been on my mind lately. When it comes to writing, I often find that you have to jump on the inspiration immediately or lose it.

Also, only now do I realize that Torchwick has bright orange hair, not red. There's going to be a mild discrepancy between this chapter and the last, apologies.

 _"Text"_

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

 _Chapter 10: Home Away from Home_

* * *

"So, Roman, who's your new friend," Mercury questioned as he leaned against the back entrance to the White Fang's base. The wait here had been agonizing so when Torchwick returned with some new guy he bit at the chance for something entertaining.

The suit-wearing man wagged his finger in response which irked the grey-haired teen. Roman always liked to look in control and treat most people like they were inferior to him.

"Don't worry Merc, he's a man that can get stuff done, that's all you need to know." The smile the orange-haired conman gave him while saying that almost caused Mercury to punch him… People needed to call him by his name, not some stupid ass nickname.

He shifted his focus to Neo first barely giving the mute pyscho a glance before eyeing the new guy. That armor was definitely something else. The glowing red eyes, the black attire, how heavily armored he was. No Huntsman had dressed like that in ages, this guy's general appearance almost made him look archaic. Most Huntsman opted for lighter armor to move faster and relied on their Aura to protect them.

"Yeah, well, just let the boss know you brought someone new in," the assassin said turning his gaze away. Didn't want the new guy to get any ideas that he was afraid of him. Still, he didn't trust the guy one bit.

His eyes kept moving to the man as they moved down the ramp and into the basement. They'd have to go through the basement garage to get in. Something about the way the new guy moved… The way the armored man seemed to be on edge. Everything about the guy screamed untrustworthy.

* * *

"Don't worry about ole Mercury back there," Torchwick said trying to soothe any grievances Six had about the boy. "He's just a bit paranoid is all. This kind of work will do that to you."

The kid had always annoyed him but Roman always enjoyed annoying the Cinder-lackey back. Still, the boy needed to mind his own business sometimes.

"Right, just didn't expect your little… Group, to be recruiting that young." His new friend's words did bring out Torchwick's curiosity. How old was Six exactly? A question for later.

He placed a hand on his hat before turning to his new acquaintance and saying, "well this is the base of operations, our home away from home, our lodge, or at least the basement of it." Torch's eyes moved over to Neo who seemed to be losing interest in the topic. He had an idea.

"You know Neo, why don't you show our new friend around, get some good bonding experience in." At the annoyed look Neo was giving him, Roman knew his words had the desired effect and his Cheshire-like grin widened. "Besides, I have to report this to the boss lady."

The ice-cream colored girl had already pulled out a scroll and was typing something out but he would be having none of it. "No buts," Roman said cutting her off as he turned away. "Have fun," he continued quickly running towards the stairs and leaving. Time to go talk to Cinder.

* * *

Six glanced around the rather spacious basement. From what he could tell from outside, they were currently in Vale city, right on the outskirts of it. The building itself looked like a rather large warehouse of some kind though he hadn't seen the front of it yet.

There were boxes stacked upon each other around him. This was likely the storage area and it looked like a lot of the Dust that had been stolen ended up here. There were various other supplies but none quite as important as the Dust.

His head turned towards the other occupant of the room. The pink and brown-haired girl had an indignant look on her face as she tapped away at her scroll. There were a few moments of silence before she shoved the scroll towards him.

The Courier quickly read through it. The message typed for him described the basic layout and occupants of the building. They were in the basement now, which was for storage. There was a floor above this one that was split between a living area and a storefront. They were masquerading this place as a store? Interesting.

Apparently, Torch's boss, her underlings, Torchwick, Neo, and some of the White Fang used this as a resting place. Six idly wondered who managed the storefront while everyone else was in the back sleeping.

The final and top floor of the building was where all the brains behind this operation stayed. That would include Torchwick and his boss apparently. They even got their own rooms on that floor. It also explained that he should grab any empty room for his own on the first floor.

"Should probably stay away from any White Fang members huh?" Six's question was a rhetorical one but as he glanced towards Neo she shrugged before making some gestures with her hands. First, she pointed at him then at the top of her head.

"It's on my head if I mess with them huh," he replied, translating her gestures into something almost meaningful.

A thought seemed to go through the girl's head as she smiled and grabbed his arm before pulling him towards the stairs after Roman. Grey concrete walls were soon replaced by more modern-looking drywalls.

It looked like they were on the backside of the first floor, in a hall. There were plenty of rooms branching off from it and at the other end of the hall was another set of stairs leading up.

The rather small woman led him by the arm and he didn't put up much resistance. She definitely acted weird for a criminal and especially for a likely murderer. Six would go along with her until she was satisfied so he could leave. He needed to prepare for whatever job Torchwick planned on giving him.

The oddly happy girl pulled him up to a door and into a room that looked like a kitchen. Stoves, counters, and several other general appliances were in there along with a few White Fang members.

As the two entered the room, there were a few stares from the White Fang lackeys. Most were either distrustful or uninterested. A select few looks were of disdain.

The racists that were created to counter other racists. The Faunus here definitely held a hatred for humanity because of their mistreatment. In his travels, the Courier found that such illogical needs for revenge usually got you killed.

Of course, Six himself was exempt from such scrutiny. His revenge was completely logical. They had wronged him so he simply had to show what happened when you mess with the Butcher of House. Okay… Yeah, it hadn't been the greatest plan and was a bit illogical and driven by base emotions. At least it wasn't racist.

His train of thought was interrupted as Neo pulled him over to the fridge before pointing to the freezer at the top. The Courier glanced from the freezer to her. She was too short but couldn't she use her almost super-human abilities to get it herself?

Joshua let out a sigh as he reached up and opened the freezer. There was a carton of ice cream and based on the girl's name and her general childlike attitude, he could guess what she wanted.

After handing her the ice cream, Neo looked like the happiest kid in the world. It was also apparent she no longer needed his help as she turned and walked away to find a spoon, all without even saying thanks.

Six turned and headed for the door, he couldn't help but analyze his own behavior. It was a bit hypocritical calling Neo and Mercury kids. He was probably only a few years older than them. But there was something about the way they acted that made him think of them as such.

It didn't help that they had grown up in this civilized world so Joshua saw them as being almost sheltered in their personalities. It was a mostly civilized world.

Still, he needed to go get his gear ready, especially his Stealth Suit. He imagined that was probably what he was going to be using the most in the service of such criminals. He'd push such self-scrutinizing thoughts to the side for now.

As he exited the room and entered the hall, Six spotted Torchwick at the end of it. The suited man seemed to be walking and talking with some woman dressed in a red dress. The look she was giving and the way her confidence seemed to seep into the room meant she was probably the boss Torchwick mentioned.

The orange-haired man turned and pointed to Six with a grin as the woman turned to him. Those bright eyes were calculating; judging what risk he posed and what benefits he could provide. Torchwick may have been the frontman but she was definitely the brains of this show.

Six crossed his arms in response, waiting for them to be done with their little show and tell featuring him. He wouldn't be intimidated by this. He'd faced down Legate Lanius and convinced the guy to run.

There seemed to be an almost silent contest of wills between the two before she turned away. She and Roman proceeded upstairs, leaving the Courier to his own devices. That was fine with him.

He spent the next few minutes scanning each room before finding an empty one and claiming it as his own. A desk and a bed, the only two comforts in the room. The only two things he really needed. Six had made sure that his room didn't have any windows either. No use for structural weaknesses.

The Courier got to work, setting some of his gear on the desk before moving to secure the door. By secure, he obviously meant trap the hell out of it for any uninvited guests. After he got that done, Six would move to make sure that his gear was all ready for whatever mission was to come next.

Still, this was going to take a while…

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey peeps, let me know if you think I'm getting the characters Neo and Mercury right so far. I'm trying to stay relatively true to the characters in the show.

Likewise, we also get to see more actual characters from the show. It only took nine to ten chapters but we're finally meeting them. Let me know what characters from the show you want to see next. I can't promise they'll make an appearance but it may change plans I have for the future!

* * *

Current Gear:

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear

Modified Stealth Suit Mk. II

Mysterious Magnum

Rebreather

Maria

Survivalist Rifle

Modified Anti-Material Rifle.

YCS/186 Gauss Rifle variant.

C4 – Plastic explosives (10)

Detonator.

Frag Grenades (5)

Frag Mines (0)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades (10)


	12. Chapter 11: The Plan

Author's Note:

For this chapter, I had to make some judgment calls on the timeline here as well as the first major alteration to the canon timeline. This is in part because it lines up with the story and because of the changes that have occurred due to the Courier's presence.

" _Text_ "

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

 _Chapter 11: The Plan_

* * *

The sounds of low whistling were slowly chiseling away at the Courier's patience. It had been an entire week of the grey-haired boy's incessant meddling in his affairs and Six had the notion to kill him and hide the body.

Joshua would resist such urges for now though as said boy was currently being employed by his employer's employer. That fact didn't make the urge to kill Mercury any smaller.

At least his partner, Emerald, could keep her mouth shut and her nose out of his business. Ever since Torchwick had introduced him to the two teens, the grey-haired fighter was sure Six was going to betray them.

The kid's partner—Emerald—hadn't interacted with him, thank whatever gods above. In fact, Six had only spotted her once during his entire stay here so far, she was a pretty busy person it seemed.

It didn't help his nerves that they hadn't actually done anything since they arrived at the "White Fang" base. Six was pretty sure Torchwick had paid for the place.

Cinder… The only reason Six knew that Cinder even existed was because of her brief appearances on the first floor. She didn't even bother talking to the White Fang stationed here or to anyone outside her circle. Instead choosing to communicate through her lackeys when necessary.

From what Six heard, the base they were in wasn't the only base around this city. They had more than a few of them scattered in and outside of the City of Vale. Almost all of them seemed to house some form of White Fang as it appeared the terrorist group was integral to Cinder's plans.

The White Fang members had been a worry at first but Six quickly found that they were dismissive of him as well. They saw him as another lackey of Cinder and a necessary cog in their own plans. Everyone was currently either suspicious of him or looking down on him. Honestly, he preferred the latter, it made them easier targets later.

The Courier finally pulled his head out of his own memories, only to be met by Mercury. "Either stop whistling or go somewhere else," the Courier said placing the still partially melted transportalponder on the desk.

This was the current item he was working on. With the resources in this base, he had been able to at least try to dismantle the thing. In time, he could reverse engineer the thing but that wasn't the problem.

Its normal source of energy, whatever it was, was definitely not on hand in this world. This meant that he had to test small and unimportant pieces of the device on dust to see how it would react. So far, the tests had been… Less than optimal.

Small explosions and even more burnt pieces of the device had been discarded and replaced. This also added to the Courier's current levels of frustration.

There was a smirk splayed across Mercury's face as he heard the Courier's words. "Or what, you'll run to daddy Roman to tell me to stop?" The boy's words were meant to provoke Six, to get him to react.

"No, but if you have a problem with me, I'd prefer you just come out and say it instead of dancing around the issue like a kid." The Courier figured his words struck true as the grin fell from said "kid's" face.

"Yeah I got a problem," Mercury replied while pointing a finger towards him. "You. I get that Roman needs people but either he doesn't know anything about you or won't say anything. The rest of us know what we want. You're an unknown factor and I don't like you."

Six smirked under his mask while replying, "you mean I'm making you restless."

"Oh, hardy har," the assassin said while rolling his eyes. "The big bad freakshow that won't tell us his name. I thought we're supposed to be working as a team."

"Freakshow," Six said with fake hurt in his voice. "I'll have you know I am perfectly normal where I come from." That was a lie.

"And where would that be," the teenager questioned, leaning in with a grin.

Joshua shrugged in response, doing his best to not give a direct answer. "Wouldn't you like to know, boy."

That seemed to stir something in Mercury as he leaned in grabbing the Courier's collar. Joshua knew he needed to play this cool, only turning to look at his aggressor.

"Only one person ever called me that, he's dead now," Mercury said that with a little too much conviction to Six. He figured it was probably a sore point. A good weakness to exploit later.

"What kind of name is "Six" anyway-" Mercury was cut off as the Courier grabbed his offending wrist and threw the teen over his shoulder. The assassin landed with a hard thud and a breath of air was forced out his body.

"Oh, it's on," the grey-haired teen muttered rolling onto his stomach before clambering to his feet.

* * *

Mercury knew he could take this guy. He wasn't even sure why Roman had brought him around. Some muscle to look intimidating maybe? It didn't matter.

The teenager started with a high kick to the head, planning on ending this as soon as possible. There was a twinge of annoyance that turned to alarm as Six leaned into the hit; blocking it with his arm before grabbing his ankle.

The Courier's free hand went to his knee and in one motion he quickly twisted it downward, forcing Mercury's form to buckle as he fell on his right side. It didn't hurt due to his prosthetic limb but his situation was deteriorating quickly.

Every time he tried to move his leg away, Six tightened his grip. The asshole had him in sort of martial arts lock and damn if the freak wasn't stronger than he looked.

But he wasn't exactly helpless either. He brought his other leg up, kicking at the asshole's leg. It hurt. Did this guy have a prosthetic limb too? And why hadn't he hit the guy's aura? Mercury could feel pain where his prosthetic connected to his leg. Though from the hissing noise Six was making, his assailant could feel it too.

In response, the Courier leaned back, stretching out Mercury's leg. "Fuck," the assassin let out, feeling his prosthetic limb ever so slowly being ripped from his leg.

He was about to kick the freak again when a familiar orange-haired conman walked in. "That's enough Six," Roman called out tapping his cane on the floor.

The pressure on his leg was immediately gone and the teenager got to his feet as quickly as possible.

* * *

It was a bit childish that Six put the kid in the dirt but really it was the quickest solution as well. Mercury's hostility wasn't going to go away for a long time unless they just fought it out now.

"Ready for round two," the kid asked him taking a low stance. Six, in turn, raised his harms close to his head, ready for whatever the kid was going to throw at him.

The two were cut off by Roman who said, "I said, as your current employer, stop." Joshua glanced over at his boss before sighing and taking a step back.

At the Courier's relaxed state, Mercury backed up as well, moving to take a seat on one of the crates nearby.

"As much fun as it is to watch the children fight, there's finally a job for the two of you. Well, the group of you…" Roman's words were punctuated by two people walking into the room behind him.

The conman twirled his cane once as the form of Neo and another figure Six didn't recognize stepped beside Roman. The new guy was tall, red hair, a Faunus of some kind, and wore a mask over his eyes. The sword at his side and the serious attitude meant this guy was probably White Fang.

"You already know Neo and this is Adam. Leader of the White Fang, or at least this portion of it." The orange-haired man's words drew Six's attention. This portion? Were there different factions within the White Fang? Adam didn't bother speaking, rather waiting for Roman to continue.

"There's a new mission and everyone here is going to be partners for it," Roman began as he turned away and began walking back towards the stare. The statement drew a glare from Adam to Mercury and Six. Or at least, Six assumed it was a glare behind the mask. "Cinder's orders," Roman said as he took his first step up.

"Meet in the planning room on the second floor in ten minutes." And with that, the conman was gone, leaving the four occupants of the room alone.

Neo smiled at the Courier while making a scooping motion with her hand before bringing it to her mouth.

While Six was trying to figure out what that meant, Adam finally spoke, "I don't need any of you slowing me down. The White Fang will handle this, just don't get in our way." With that said, the Faunus turned to follow Roman back up the stairs.

"Well he's a kind soul isn't he," Joshua joked as the trio watched Adam leave.

Mercury shrugged before responding, "he has a giant stick up his ass about the whole Faunus' rights thing. Not like I give a shit, it doesn't affect me." The grey-haired teen turned and gave Six a look before continuing, "so what was the deal with me hitting you through your Aura?"

The Courier would have to think of something good for this one. He didn't want his employers to know about his situation just yet. Six went to open his mouth but was cut off as the last occupant of the room grabbed his hand.

The ice cream themed girl was currently giving Six a pout that could kill. In turn, Joshua let out a sigh as it finally clicked.

"Fine, we can get you ice cream before the briefing. We'll talk about this later kid." The Butcher of House didn't particularly want to grab more ice cream for the small criminal but it did get him out of the pain of explaining his lack of Aura. Plus, Mercury's face of annoyance was priceless.

* * *

A short trip to get ice cream later and the Courier with Neo walked into the briefing room. From what Six saw on the upper floor, there were a few bedrooms, a briefing room, and the planning room.

It was likely that only the higher-ups slept here and got access to the planning room. The briefing room itself wasn't large. It contained a small round table in the middle, a few chairs, and a holographic projector that was currently displaying a map of the City of Vale.

The short criminal at his side nudged Six before moving over to take a seat. Deciding to follow her lead, Joshua took the seat next to her as she happily ate the ice cream he had acquired; this time straight from the box.

Other than Neo and himself, the room contained seven occupants. It was relatively crowded in the room if one considered that Six and Neo made nine people.

Mercury, Emerald, even Cinder was here standing next to Roman with an impatient look. Roman, Adam, and two White Fang lieutenants Six didn't recognize were the other occupants of the room.

"Alright gentleman and lackeys," Roman began as he stepped up to the holographic map on the wall. "We've got a big operation this time."

Using his cane, the conman pointed to an outer section of the city on the map. "Along here lies a railway used to transport Dust. It moves around the city and to and from other settlements nearby. It's rather complicated but you don't need to know the infrastructure that well!"

Roman's cane moved to a small section of the south side of the map. A small line left the city for a brief bit before reconnecting a short distance away. "What you do need to know is that there's a large shipment of Dust coming through this area of the railway! As you know, we need Dust for our operations and this might be the biggest bust yet!"

"Luckily for us, the respectable and very competent law enforcement of Vale leaves this area nice and unguarded save for a few turrets." After Roman spoke, he lowered his cane and tapped the remote he was carrying causing the slide to change.

This time it showed several large and automated turrets along a large cliffside. "That's because the natural geography of the area protects it against Grimm and bandits alike. So, if we hit it here, all we'll have to deal with are the turrets and the guards on the train."

"That's the good news," Roman said with the same smug grin he always had. "The bad news is that those turrets are anti-aircraft and anti-Grimm. Which means you'll be climbing that cliff and staking out for the night."

A groan came from one of the White Fang lieutenants before the conman cut him off, "ah, ah, no complaining because there's more good news. Those turrets are designed for aircraft and flying Grimm which means they won't even register you. This also means I lied to you before and that you'll only have to deal with the guards on the train."

"But how are we getting the Dust out of the train, we can't carry it because of the cliff," Six asked while placing his hands on his knees.

"I'm glad you asked my new and second favorite employee," the suited man said as he moved over to the small table in the center of the room. He opened a large duffle bag on the table before pulling out what looked like a plastic explosive to Six.

"This, is a Dust IED. Plant these on those pesky little turrets our friends have set up, pull the trigger, and watch the light show." After his words, Roman placed the explosive back in the bag before zipping it up. "This will allow Bullheads to land for you and the cargo."

"There's a secondary objective as well." These words didn't come from Roman but rather the woman in the red dress. Joshua hadn't heard her voice before. It was calm, cool, almost icy.

"Three high-level members of the SDC or Schnee Dust Company will be on this train. While the Dust is more important, taking these targets out will help us in the long run." Where Roman had said his words with a theatrical flair and pitch, Cinder was cold and factual. It was a bit refreshing.

"Right," Roman cut back in as he pressed the remote again. This time a picture of an older man with white hair and a suit appeared. Adam and his goons seemed to grow eager and angry at the same time while looking at the image of this man.

"The president of the SDC himself, Jacques Schnee will be attending our little party." Roman stopped himself to press the remote again before continuing, "his son Whitley Schnee." Again, white hair accompanied a pale complexion. The boy looked like a younger version of his father. Prim, proper, probably ruthless.

"Finally, we come to Weiss Schnee, the middle child of the Schnee family." The conman's words caught Six's curiosity. So, there was another child who wouldn't be attending?

This appeared to go through Adam's head too as he spoke, "we could nearly wipe out the Schnee bloodline in one go…"

"But the Dust is more important," Roman replied giving Cinder a sheepish smile. The leader of this criminal group had been giving a glare to Adam before the conman had cut in. Now she leaned back against a wall of the room.

"Now we need to discuss how this going to work," the suited man continued before pointing to Neo. "You'll be staying with me at the Bullheads as security for me and the cargo. I'll be using the radio on the Bullhead to keep you all informed on what's happening."

The girl glared at him but a quick and uncharacteristically serious look from Roman calmed Neo.

"So, you'll be mission control," the Courier commented absently, not really expecting a response.

But a response he got as Roman said, "that's right! Now, you two," before pointing to the two lieutenants. "You'll be piloting the Bullheads, landing them, and transporting the cargo onto them. Don't worry, your men will be creating a distraction elsewhere so there'll be no danger to you."

The two Faunus seemed disgruntled but a quick look from Adam silenced them.

"Mercury and Emerald, you'll be in charge of placing explosives on turrets…" The two criminals didn't seem bothered by the conman's words and Roman looked pleasantly surprised before moving on.

"Finally, Adam and Six, you'll be going through the train together and clearing it."

Him and Adam? The human-hating Faunus?

"Roman… A leader of the White Fang and a human paired together," Six asked in a tone that bordered on mockery.

The bull Faunus let out a sigh and Joshua assumed Adam rolled his eyes. "All you humans are the same. As long as we're working towards the same goal, I'll tolerate you for now. Just don't slow me down."

That was… Surprising coming from Adam. Maybe he wasn't as insane as the Courier thought.

"See, it'll be fine," Roman replied picking up right where he left off.

"I'm bringing Blake," the bull Faunus stated in a tone that made it clear that this was not up for debate.

"It's not a good idea about getting too many people in on this," the conman replied obviously trying to placate Cinder who was again glaring daggers at Adam.

"It's not negotiable, she's one of my best fighters," Adam continued before Six raised his hand.

Joshua lowered his hand when all eyes turned to him. "I don't see the problem here." The Courier knew he was irritating his boss but continued anyway, "we could use another skilled pair of hands and one more person isn't going to blow the lid on this right?"

If Adam was grateful for the support, he didn't show it, instead turning back towards Roman.

The suited man in turn looked nervous. "I mean, while you're right we can-"

"Enough," Cinder said cutting off Roman. "It's fine if he brings his little kitten. But you'll keep her in control."

There was a brief battle of wills while Adam and Cinder glared at each other. Though the silent debate seemed to calm when they turned away from each other.

With the argument seemingly over, the conman held up the remote before saying, "now that concludes the presentation boys and girls. This little operation of ours starts in two days bright and early. Be ready!"

Roman began moving out of the room with Cinder before turning back and saying, "oh and I assume this goes without saying, but don't let anyone know about this little shindig of ours."

With that, the two leaders left the room, leaving all the disgruntled lackeys—including Joshua—to their devices.

"Good luck mister grim and dark," Mercury commented as he walked past Six with Emerald in two. The girl letting out a sigh at her partner's antics.

Joshua didn't really care to respond to the boy choosing to instead make his way over to Adam. Before Six did so, he glanced back at Neo and said, "enjoy the ice cream." In turn, the girl nodded and gave him a smile. She was too friendly with him for Six's liking.

The two lieutenants were currently moving out of the room with Adam when Six spoke up, "I think we should talk."

"There's nothing to say," Adam replied turning towards Joshua. "Just don't get in my way and pull your weight."

"Fine," Joshua replied actually enjoying the straightforward if blunt nature of Adam. "I work better at a distance so you'll be the frontman and I'll shoot from the back. All I wanted to say."

The bull Faunus shrugged not particularly caring. "Works for me, keeps you out of my way." With that, Adam turned away and left, looking for his lieutenants.

Well, it was just him now. Joshua would go get prepared for now and put the transportalponder on the backburner. He'd get the bigger guns ready with his riot armor. Stealth likely wasn't going to be a big factor in this mission.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hope you liked the chapter, let me know what you think of my interpretation of Adam.

* * *

Current Gear:

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear

Modified Stealth Suit Mk. II

Mysterious Magnum

Rebreather

Maria

Survivalist Rifle

Modified Anti-Material Rifle.

YCS/186 Gauss Rifle variant.

C4 – Plastic explosives (10)

Detonator.

Frag Grenades (5)

Frag Mines (0)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades (10)


	13. Chapter 12: Summer Stops and Winter Ends

Author's Note:

So, a few things here. A lot of those timeline changes/diverging from canon I mentioned in the previous chapter are happening in this one.

It was brought to my attention that Blake may have already left the White Fang by this point in the RWBY timeline. However, when Blake leaves is relatively up for debate as is when Adam joins up with Cinder. There's no set point either of these two events are in the timeline. Mostly because there is no solid timeline for many of these events. Thus, I'm going to say they happened together for the story.

There is another large thing that happens in this chapter but I won't spoil it for you!

" _Text_ "

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

 _Chapter 12: Summer Stops and Winter Ends_

* * *

The glove holding the small jutting piece of the ledge was covered in dirt and grime. Six didn't know how he had gotten himself into this situation.

Several figures were currently scaling a large cliff without equipment. Joshua let out another grunt as he used his leg to push himself further up and grab a small crevice. Rock climbing was not his specialty.

Luckily, it was starting to get cooler these days. It appeared the seasons functioned like Earth and summer was slowly coming to a close.

To his left, Blake and Emerald were climbing the cliff and to his right, Adam and Mercury were doing the same. Whoever thought this was a good plan was definitely wrong in the Courier's mind.

Stealth wasn't a huge factor for this mission and Six had elected to take his elite riot armor for the extra protection. However, taking the twenty-odd something pounds of gear along with his weapons made this climb much more taxing.

Joshua wasn't out of shape by any means but taking all his gear up the biggest cliff he had ever seen was a bad idea.

The group couldn't hear the animals that usually came out at night because of the sheer height of the cliff. If Six had to guess, he was maybe halfway up a roughly mile-long climb.

"Bet you're… Regretting that armor now… Huh, Dark and Brooding?" Mercury's words were cocky but even he appeared to be getting tired from the climb.

Unfortunately for Six, he didn't have that Aura to protect him should he fall. Due to this, rather than responding to the annoying teen he moved his hand upwards, grabbing a small jutting piece of the cliff.

"Less talking, more climbing," Emerald responded while tensing her body. Her legs bent in preparation before she used her Aura to jump up a good portion of the cliff and grab hold of a ledge.

Joshua grabbed the nearest exposed piece of rock to him before pausing his climb. While he caught his breath, his eyes wandered to Blake.

The Faunus wasn't particularly talkative and hadn't said a word to anyone outside of Adam. Whether she was shy or just didn't like them remained to be seen. Still… Something felt off about how she acted. Like she expected something sour to happen this trip. Other than that, Six didn't really have too much information about her to form an opinion.

The Courier pushed such thoughts from his mind for now as he continued his climb.

* * *

Six let out one last grunt as he raised himself over the edge of the cliff before rolling onto it. That had been… Taxing to say the least. He was breathing rather hard but Joshua knew he had to keep going for a bit longer.

Pushing to his feet, Six saw that everyone else had made it to the top before him. Mercury was already giving him a smirk. The kid likely saw the climb as a competition but that didn't matter.

That wasn't the end of the trip though. The group walked another mile or so in relative silence. The trees here were a peculiar shade of red and were blossoming at the moment. He hadn't ever read of trees like these before. In fact, even the dirt itself was red beneath their feet.

Once they reached their destination, it was another drop. It led down to a long railway track. Up there with them though were the large anti-aircraft turrets they had been briefed on.

"We're camping here for the night, the train should be here in the morning," Adam said as he set a small pack down. Everyone had been given a small pack of supplies to get some energy back over the night.

"Roger that," the Courier responded setting his own pack down. He had taken it along because dematerializing an object wasn't something he had shown any of them yet. They'd have questions he wouldn't want to answer.

A few energy bars and some water were contained in the pack. "This is "S," reporting in to let you know we've made it to the top. No issues up here, over." The Courier knew that Roman was going to want an update.

"Great news "S." It still seems like the train is on time so we'll proceed with the regular timetable. Try not to get killed; it'll look bad on me." Roman's words weren't exactly endearing but Six wasn't exactly looking for moral support.

They had all been linked via their Scrolls or in Six's case the comm unit inside his helmet to Roman's communication system. Likely a local radio so no one would pick it up at long distances.

Roman himself was back down and about a mile or two away from the cliff in their makeshift base. It would take them only a few minutes to get up the cliff and to their position with a bullhead once they had the turrets down.

Six took up position at the edge of the little "camp" they were setting up. There wasn't a fire or any talking. The group merely sat in a circle, resting.

"I'll take first watch," the Courier called out, ignoring the look from Adam as Faunus nodded towards Blake.

It was true, Faunus had superior night vision to humans but Six wasn't entirely human anymore. Besides, this wasn't about a tactical advantage but rather trust.

Mercury and Emerald also seemed to have some sort of mute debate with each other before Emerald rolled her eyes. A smirk crossed Mercury's face as he laid down and rolled over. That guy could get comfortable anywhere.

Joshua could make out the obvious as both Blake and Emerald took up positions next to him. Not only did no one trust him but the Faunus and non-Faunus were distrusting of each other. Six knew how well missions like this went with no trust.

The trio sat in relative silence for over thirty minutes. Emerald staring out at nothing and Blake reading some kind of book. It looked like some kind of romance book. Nothing Six was interested in but no reason to point it out either.

Six himself had pulled out his anti-material rifle and was looking down the scope.

After another fifteen or so minutes of silence and Emerald finally piped up, "so why don't you have a shifting weapon?"

She must be referring to his rifle. "Because I don't care to be flashy," Six responded, not bothering to look away from his scope.

"I'm just saying, your gun seems archaic and there's an advantage to having a weapon that doubles as both ranged and melee." Emerald's words piqued Blake's interest at this point, who looked up from her book.

"Yeah, and lots of moving parts that can jam. A gun's already likely enough to jam on its own, let alone adding lots of complex parts to it." Six finally looked away from his scope and towards Emerald before continuing, "and I'm sure bashing your gun against enemies does wonders for it."

"So, what do you do if they get up close," Blake asked, finally cutting into the conversation.

In turn, the Courier shrugged his shoulders. "That's the trick. They don't."

It was sort of true and sort of not true. He did have weapons for close range that he could switch to but feeding misinformation to possible enemies was one of Six's many hobbies.

Blake seemed satisfied with the answer so she went back to her book. Emerald, on the other hand, looked a tad bit irritated that she hadn't gotten a straight answer but remained silent.

The rest of their shift went by without a problem. They remained in silence before eventually trading off with Mercury and Adam.

Six pretended to sleep as to not give them any information that he wasn't exactly normal. Hell, Mercury already knew he didn't have an Aura. Probably felt assured since that made Six "weaker" than him.

If the time came for them to fight, Six would prove him otherwise. For now… He had a lot of waiting to do. Someone had to pretend that there was some level of trust in this group.

* * *

The train whistle signaled that it was time for the operation to begin. Six was a little annoyed that Roman hadn-

"Okay people, operation is a go, get moving. Team BAS head for the train, team EM head for the turrets." Roman's words brought just a little agitation to Six as he got to his feet.

Their naming conventions for teams were ridiculous in this world. Initials were a good way for enemies to figure out who you are. Regardless, he approached Adam and Blake.

The train by now was approaching in the distance and Six could see Mercury and Emerald dashing off towards the anti-air turrets. The only reason they had waited this long was to make sure no warning was given from the destroyed turrets to the train.

"On my mark," Adam said as the train began drawing closer and closer.

Neither Blake nor Six replied as they waited for the train to get closer.

The sounds of rails against wheels filled the air as it approached. Still Adam waited.

The conductor blew the whistle again, this time getting uncomfortably loud. Still Adam waited.

Six began doubting if he was going to have time to even make it to the train. Still Adam waited.

Finally, just when the Courier was going to look over at the bull Faunus, he spoke. "Now!"

The trio rushed towards the train though Adam and Blake managed to keep ahead of the Courier despite his cybernetics. Blake pulled the lead on Adam as well.

Six could feel his feet pounded against the red dirt and could even see his two companions kicking up some as they ran.

The black-haired Faunus was the first to reach the train and hop on board. She made it look easy with how elegantly she could jump in the air.

Red trees passed by but Six barely registered them as he jumped after, following Adam's drop.

All he could hear was the sound of rushing wind and his heart racing as he grew steadily closer to the train. It wasn't as long of a drop as the cliff they just climbed but it would hurt.

Where Blake and Adam landed with a soft thud and elegance. Six landed with a loud bang, denting the metal beneath his feet as he landed before rolling.

The Courier's bones whined at him from the drop but he quickly stood up to give the impression he was fine. They weren't broken and he had a job to finish.

Blake seemed to notice the noise he made as he landed, giving a second glance at him, but turned back to Adam.

The trio had landed a few cars down from where they actually wanted to be, the conductor's train. Six knew Adam had waited too long. The trio was on the roof of a railcar now.

"We have five minutes to get to the front of the train, move," Adam said as he began running ahead of Six. Blake followed suit with Six taking up the rear.

They quickly came across a hatch and opened it. Blake and Adam jumped inside without hesitation and quickly found that the railcar was filled with what looked like Atlesian knights.

The Courier had heard about these robotic forces in his research. Apparently, Atlas had an entire automated army at their disposal. Soulless, grey, red eyes, and built to kill Grimm. These were the smaller less dangerous models though.

Six didn't bother hopping down instead aiming his rifle at the Atlesian androids booting up.

The Courier barely heard the two say something about being dramatic below him before opening fire.

Six would admit that Aura and Semblances were definitely impressive. Both Adam and Blake moved at near blinding speeds as he made his shot.

In the blink of an eye, four androids were destroyed. The top half of one being blown off by Six, another being cut in half by Adam, and the final two being dismembered by Blake.

The two warriors were even blocking the bullets being shot at them with their blades. While Dust rounds were significantly slower than bullets on his world, it was still an impressive feat. Getting to witness Aura users first hand was a first for him.

One of the androids began revving up what looked like some kind of Gatling gun in its arms but subsequently lost its head from a .50 Cal Dust round courtesy of Six.

Fortunately for Joshua, he only had to pick off the stragglers and longer-distance androids from his safe spot in the hatch.

He even got to witness Blake use her Semblance, a strange copy appearing for a moment as she kicked one of the androids away.

The two were cutting through the knights like hot butter as they made their way to the other end of the railcar.

This made it so Six had to drop in to keep getting clear shots. He made another audible denting noise again as he landed before turning his rifle and causing another knight to cease existing.

Then Adam kicked the last android through the door and into the next car.

This car didn't have a roof over it. Instead, it had roughly two dozen knights according to Joshua's count and he didn't have a shot because Blake and Adam were in the way.

Six's compass had an uncomfortable number of enemy signatures on it as he finally made his way to the door.

By the time he shot his first round over half of the knights were disposed of. The two Faunus worked like a well-oiled machine. Blake would toss one to Adam before cutting down three surrounding her. In turn, Adam would cut the one tossed to him before turning and cutting down the rest in front of him.

It felt like he wasn't even needed here. Still, Six did his job, picking off the stragglers and making sure no one came up behind the two of them.

Within another minute or two, the rest of the knights were offline and the trio proceeded into the next car.

Despite their speed, the group was running out of time as they opened the door. They had one maybe two minutes left before they would be leaving the area where the bullhead could reach them before enemy reinforcements arrived. It was likely they weren't going to make it to the train at this rate.

As the group progressed into the car, Six noticed there were quite a few boxes and crates in this one. And it was surprisingly dark.

There were still plenty of hostiles on the train so it was messing with his compass but something felt off.

As Blake and Adam searched the crates in the room, Six idly glanced over.

"Perfect, move up to the next car, we've got what we need." Adam's words told Joshua that it was most likely Dust then and this room had more than enough for what they needed let alone the rest of the railcars behind this one.

"Set the charges in the next car, we'll separate this one from the engine," Adam commanded as he sorted through what boxes had what.

"What about the crew members," Blake asked showing a modicum of concern for the human crew aboard. Strange for a terrorist but Six supposed everyone drew the line somewhere.

Then Joshua finally figured out what was wrong. "There's something in here with us," Six said as he noticed one of the red tags on his radar move near them.

A machine that looked somewhat similar to the giant Robo-scorpion he had encountered in the Big Empty descended from the ceiling like a spider.

It was tall, about the Courier stacked on top of himself three times over, and glowing red with huge canons. Four legs supported its frame as it skittered towards them as a spider or crab would.

"Oh shit," Six muttered as he opened fire on the thing. This robot appeared far more durable than its brethren, with the large Dust rounds merely denting its armor. He'd have to try Burn rounds next.

Blake rushed it only for it to begin launching what appeared to be orbs of pure energy at them. Six rolled to the side as the female Faunus lunged at it.

The robot merely head-butted her, sending the girl backwards a few yards. It gave her no room to breathe as it loomed over it, ready to strike.

Adam himself barely did any damage when he cut at, receiving a kick from the robot and sending him reeling back.

Six loaded new rounds into his rifle and pressed forward, unloading the Burn Dust .50 Cal bullets into it. This seemed to stun it for a few moments as the rounds exploded on its armor, shredding some of it off.

This gave Blake time to roll back to relative safety and back to Adam and Six.

"We need to get out of here," Blake commented in a worried tone as the robot combined its canons into some sort of giant canon.

"What can't this thing do," Six muttered before rolling towards the side of the train.

The monstrosity launched a large beam of pure energy at Adam and Blake. The former holding up his blade and somehow not being disintegrated by the shot. Instead, both he and Blake were launched back through the door and to the railcar behind them. Aura was a real powerful thing.

"Six, get to the next car. We need to separate it from this one!" Adam's words didn't help Six as the metal monster was looming on him now.

The armored man slid forward and away from the leg that crushed the ground where he had been standing. Now he was laying directly under the large android.

Fortunately for Six, Blake seemed to grab its attention when she rushed back in and slashed at it. It kicked her back out again before chasing after her, leaving the Courier in the car alone.

Six didn't have long. He made his way to the end of the car and opened it. It led to another roofless car and Six smirked under his helmet.

Two of the high-priority targets were standing right in front of him.

"Father, don't you think it best for us to head further up the train? With Weiss?" That voice belonged to a younger white-haired boy. Six presumed him to be Whitley Schnee. The two currently had their back to him, allowing the Courier to carefully come up behind them.

"Your sister is in a rather foul mood. Besides, whatever small diversion is happening in the cars behind us will be handled by the Atlesian androids. They're top of the line and even have that prototype." The older man had a mustache and white hair. Most likely the head of the SDC.

It looked like the boy wanted to say something but held his tongue. Even the rich had family issues. The Courier equipped his Mysterious Magnum as he watched the two powered down knights at the side of Jacques.

"Excuse me," Six called out in a mildly taunting tone. It was only then that the two turned to face him. Joshua was a quiet individual even in his riot armor.

A look of shock adorned their faces for a moment as the knights powered on only to have their heads blown off with a few well-placed shots from Six.

"Who are you and where-" Jacques began before being cut off by Six.

"Where are your androids? Either destroyed or preoccupied with my companions." Six's answer brought a frown to the owner of the SDC. It was obvious the Schnee head figured out that he wasn't here for conversation.

"Well then, what are your demands," the older man asked still trying to maintain control of the situation.

Six sighed while glancing at the young boy. He looked no older than fifteen. Hell of an age to lose your dad. Six still had it worse.

Joshua pulled back the hammer on his revolver before responding, "you're misinterpreting my intentions here."

The older Schnee's composure almost broke at the realization but he kept his cool and turned to his son. "Whitley, go to the front of the train and get your sister."

"But fa-"

"Now," Jacques commanded, cutting off his kid.

The youngest member of the Schnee family looked between Six and his father, worry filling his eyes. Despite that, he nodded his head before turning and running towards the next railcar.

Technically the young Schnee was on the target list but Six wasn't in the business of killing kids… Usually.

The Wild Card King looked down at his Pip-Boy, only thirty seconds left.

"Sorry it had to be this way," Six's commented raising his revolver.

"Tell me, who sent you?" Jacques' question gave Six a moment of pause.

The Courier shrugged his shoulders before responding, "don't know who they really are or why they want you dead. I just know my job is to kill you."

The owner of the SDC squeezed his fists. "I can give you more than they can. I'm worth more alive."

It looked like Six had taken too long. Adam rushed onto the railcar with Blake in tow. On the other end of the car, the two youngest members of the Schnee family came rushing out.

The Butcher of House gave one last sigh before responding, "sorry, but you're worth enough dead."

A loud bang rang out as Jacques Schnee's head pulled back, a bullet between his eyes. A moment later, the head of the Schnee family lay on the ground, dead. Blood pooling on the ground around his head.

Six hadn't done anything like that since coming to this world and he had to hold back a sharp breath in. He didn't like killing parents in front of their children.

But… Six quieted the voices in his head that screamed at the cruelty of it. Letting a cold and comforting blanket of apathy envelop him. This was just part of the job.

"Father!" The youngest Schnee shouted out while running towards his deceased father.

The other one, Weiss Schnee if he remembered correctly, stood still almost as if in shock. There wasn't anger or sadness though. Maybe their family relationship was more strained than the Courier initially thought.

"What are you doing, the other two are right there," Adam called out as Six walked back to him.

Blake gave the bull Faunus a look of disbelief for a moment. Did she not know there were priority targets?

"We've got no time. Need to detach this car now." The Courier took a few steps off the railcar with the dead Schnee and stepped beside Adam before continuing, "and I'm not paid to kill children. You want it done, do it yourself."

The Faunus glared at him before taking a step forward. "Fine, I will."

The kid was kneeling over his father's corpse, completely unaware that Adam planned on killing him.

Before anyone could kill somebody, Blake rushed forward, jumping onto the railcar in front of them.

"Adam, you just can't… We're supposed to be better than that." Blake's words did little to deter Adam who continued forward.

"Goodbye," Blake muttered as she brought her blade down on the railcar connection, severing it. So, she was more of a bleeding heart than Joshua knew.

The cars disconnected and Adam and Six's end quickly began to slow down and separate.

There was a look of shock on Adam's face for a moment but it was quickly replaced by rage. Adam was about to rush forward and jump when the Courier called out, "stop! We have what we came for. Don't get killed for some petty revenge."

This halted Adam for only a moment. Whether the bull Faunus would have stopped entirely, it didn't matter. That moment of hesitation allowed enough distance to build where Adam couldn't make it to the car Blake was on.

"Damnit. Damnit! I can't believe she just left!" Adam spoke as he watched Blake disappear, past the red trees. The train was almost stopped now.

The Courier instead gave a fleeting glance at the sobbing boy and his father's corpse. He wasn't going to sleep tonight.

Six shrugged in response, turning his back to the Faunus as he turned on his transmitter. "Forget her, we finished the mission." He paused for a second before focusing his attention on relaying what had happened. "This is BAS, reporting in "T," over."

"This is your boss speaking; tell me you have good news."

"Mixed. We weren't able to get to the front of the train but we got the majority of the cargo separated. We're stopped at the edge of the pick-up zone." Six looked back towards Adam who seemed to be sulking while staring out into the red trees.

"I'll send the bullhead over. Anything else I should know?"

"Yeah, bad news, the "B" of BAS just left and probably turned traitor. So we have a leak," Six said while turning away from Adam.

"Not now Neo, I'm in the middle of a call." Six could tell Roman was being bothered by someone with multi-colored hair. "What? Yes, yes, it's him why do you care? The mission went fine, leave me alone!"

The Courier heard Torchwick clear his throat on the other end before continuing, "that's fine. "A" was under strict orders to not tell her he was working with us. As far as she knows, this was just a White Fang mission."

"Then we suffered minimal losses, other than maybe pride," the Courier replied, slowly reloading his revolver with one hand. "Good news, we got Jacques Schnee."

Roman let out a hearty laugh on the other end before saying, "great news actually! He was the main secondary target. SDC will be crippled for years without its head. Plus, he was a complete snob, always hated that guy."

There was a pause in the conversation as Roman caught his breath. "Well, I'm sending the bullhead over. EM did their job. You'll grab the cargo, hop on board, pickup EM, and then head back. It'll be there within five."

With that, Six stopped the transmission. Adam was still sulking and Six figured he needed to get him back in the game.

"Hey, was she really that important," the Courier asked, taking a step towards the White Fang member.

"I…" Adam paused, collecting himself. "She has been by my side for a long time. I thought of all Faunus, I could trust her. If I can't trust her, I can't trust anyone." The Bull Faunus ran a hand through his hair.

Joshua could understand the feelings of betrayal pretty well. "I get it, I've had people burn me. But you can't let that consume you. Keep looking forward. Now get ready, the bullhead will be here in a few minutes."

This seemed to get Adam to pay attention to the mission again. He was still in a sour mood but at least the red-haired guy was back.

"I can't believe I'm taking advice from a human," Adam commented while moving over to one of the crates and sitting on it.

Six shrugged before sitting on a crate across from the Faunus. "I can't believe I killed a father in front of his son. It's one of those days."

A short silence descended over the two. Neither really wanting to talk.

Eventually, Adam spoke up, "you did good. Killing that bastard. That whole family is made up of monsters."

Six gave Adam a curious glance but didn't say anything.

"Let's just say the Schnee Dust Company treats us Faunus like we're less than trash. It's time they got what was coming to them." The Faunus' words were filled with hate from years of abuse and mistreatment, Joshua could tell. He'd heard men like that before.

Six understood, everyone was treated like shit back in the Mojave. Some treated worse than others. Still… One had to control that anger or it would consume them.

A frown formed underneath the mask as Six realized that anger had consumed him before. What had been thinking? Destroying everything and everyone he had helped before? Even if they turned on him, that's insane.

Six placed a hand against his mask while letting out a small chuckle. "Don't thank me, I was just doing my job…"

Ulysses was right about him.

* * *

The rest of the operation went off without a hitch. Dust and some decent weapons stolen, a clean getaway, and EM's pickup went smoothly. All in all the day could have gone worse. Still could have been better too.

The group made their way back to the temporary base. Picking up Neo, Torchwick, and Cinder. Six didn't realize Cinder had been watching the entire time.

"Well, the mission was a success with only a few minor hiccups," Torchwick called out. Everyone was in the back with the cargo and it was pretty damn cramped.

Of course, Torchwick got a seat on one of the ends. Nice and cozy. Neo was next to him, the Courier was next to her, and Cinder was on the other side of Six. And across from Joshua, was Adam.

Six was surrounded by people he hated, that didn't trust him, were psychotic, or hated him too.

Neo seemed to be in a chipper mood, she pressed her side up against him, elbowing his side. Six looked down to see her making a scooping motion with her hand.

"Is ice cream all you can ever think about?" Six's question caused the girl to silently giggle. It was kind of creepy seeing someone laugh without noise.

She then pointed to his pack before raising her hand to her face and making a biting motion.

Six sighed before reaching into his pack and pulling out a spare nutrient bar. He handed it to her and she immediately bit off the end, seemingly content.

It was going to be a long ride back…

* * *

Author's Note:

Hope you liked the chapter, let me know what you think of my interpretation of Adam! I think he had a lot more screen time in this chapter.

Likewise, for those curious… I'm hoping to use this chapter as a way to have a deeper connection between not only Blake and Weiss but to also give some connection between Adam, the Courier, and the Schnee family. I always felt that Adam should have been more involved with the Schnee family considered his scar and hatred for them.

Let me know what you think of these diverges from the canon timeline.

* * *

Current Gear:

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear

Modified Stealth Suit Mk. II

Mysterious Magnum

Rebreather

Maria

Survivalist Rifle

Modified Anti-Material Rifle.

YCS/186 Gauss Rifle variant.

C4 – Plastic explosives (4)

Detonator.

Frag Grenades (5)

Frag Mines (0)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades (10)


	14. Chapter 13: Schnee Grief and the Mission

Author's Note:

Welp, I had the inspiration for this chapter so here it is soon after the last one came out. Hope you all like it.

" _Text_ "

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

 _Chapter 12: Schnee Grief and the Mission_

* * *

Neo was a problem. A week had gone by since the train heist and Six had gotten to see that multi-colored hair way more than he appreciated. The girl had taken to doing three things in her boredom back at the base.

The first was to disappear for random intervals. No one knew what she was doing during this time and no one really asked the deranged mute. Joshua figured it was better left to other minds. Besides, he had things to do that were more efficient than tracking her down.

The second was to bother Roman. She would constantly hound him, often simply annoying the conman. Six figured that she enjoyed annoying others to the point she couldn't stand being left alone.

The final and most problematic habit she had picked up recently was to annoy him when Roman wasn't around. This was the current predicament Six faced as she sat on his bed.

Joshua himself was seated at his desk, using his modified Pip-Boy to check some of the local news. Ever since the heist news channels, articles, and most social media was blowing up.

"Jacques Schnee Found Dead on his own Train!"

"SDC in Chaos at CEO's Death!"

"Who Will Inherit SDC?"

The Courier idly flipped through some of the pages before finding a video. Opening it he saw the face of an Atlas reporter. Blonde hair, pretty face, classic reporter.

"This is Amberly Flame with RN Inc. and I'm here with Whitley Schnee." The video panned over to reveal both Weiss Schnee and Whitley Schnee. "And Weiss Schnee, son and daughter of the recently passed Jacques Schnee."

All three were located in what looked like some official newsroom. Flashy lights, comfortable chairs, a desk, a big monitor to display news. The works.

Joshua noticed the Whitley glanced to the side before facing the reporter again. Taking a closer look Six noticed that the kid had bags under his eyes. Loss of sleep probably, common when losing family. Though the kid didn't show it that much, it looked like he was trying to hide it. He guessed the Schnee's couldn't get out of the public eye to grieve.

Weiss, on the other hand, looked composed as the reporter continued, "the public knows these are trying times for the both of you and we thank you for coming on the show today."

"It has been hard to lose our father," Weiss began, this in turn caused Whitley's neutral expression to sour for a moment before returning to normal.

It was only at this point Six realized that Neo had gotten closer and Mercury had entered the room at some point.

"That the kid of the guy you killed," the grey-haired teen asked, taking a seat on the bed for a show.

Joshua's room was not some public theatre for people but for some reason everyone felt the need to barge in uninvited. In this case, Neo had gotten through the electronic lock on the door and left it open for Mercury.

Neo shushed him which meant Six didn't have to respond as he glanced back towards the video.

"But the Schnee name has always been strong and father taught us to be strong. Even this won't' break us." Again, Whitley had a minute reaction, a slight clench of the jaw before relaxing.

A moment didn't pass as the reporter asked, "the public has many questions as I assume you'd guess."

The girl was good at keeping a straight face. Weiss simply smiled before nodding her head.

"The people have been wondering who will be taking over responsibility? Winter Schnee is obviously the oldest but she is with the Atlas military under Ironwood. Likewise, there were rumors you were going to become a Huntress yourself?"

Weiss opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by Amberly. "Speaking of, is there a reason she isn't here? I understand she's very busy with official Atlas business but it seems like her father's death would warrant her return?"

"Wow, she's an asshole," Mercury commented and Six couldn't help but agree that she was blunt.

The two siblings both had reactions to this. Whitley's grip on his seat noticeably tightened as Weiss's smile shrunk just a little.

Neo pulled out her scroll and typed out a message before presenting it to Mercury and Six. " _The reporter or their sister?_ "

"Both," Six answered for Mercury.

"Well, as you know she's very busy," Weiss responded while doing her best to maintain her composure. "She'll come when she can."

There was a small lull in the conversation as Weiss glared the reporter down. With an even tone, the white-haired girl continued, "and it's unclear at this moment who will be taking responsibility. There is an executive council within SDC that is discussing this as well."

"What about your mother? Will she be stepping in for your father?" This time Weiss clenched her teeth at the reporter's words.

"No, she has decided not to step in," Weiss replied in a quick and sharp tone.

"And why no-"

"Next question," Weiss interrupted while leaning back in her seat. The female Schnee crossed her legs and took on a more irritated pose. It was obvious she was getting upset with the reporter.

Ms. Flame took a moment to look down at her notes, clearly not bothered at all by the attitude of the teens. "What about you Mr. Whitley? You've been rather quiet this interview. Can you tell us about the… Perpetrators behind the crime?"

"You mean the monsters," Whitley replied, trying and failing to keep his anger in check. He took a breath before continuing, "White Fang of course. Adam Taurus—a leader in the White Fang—and…"

The only male Schnee left paused for a moment. "Someone unknown. Black armor… Red eyes…"

"I'm sorry… I'm not supposed to say anything else," Whitley continued, leaning back in his chair. It was clear his emotions were running high. His sister seemed concerned, glancing at him for a moment before composing herself.

"Right, rumors have been circulating about this individual," the reporter replied, looking towards Weiss. Apparently, even Amberly had some form of tact. "Can you tell us anything about this individual? A man dressed head to toe in archaic black armor? Glowing red eyes resembling Grimm. People have taken to calling them Mimic: The Human Grimm. The man who mimics the appearance of Grimm."

Mercury's laughter cut in, breaking Six's concentration. "O-Oh gods, that, that's funny… I mean at least it's better than Courier Six." At his own joke, the Cinder lackey broke out in laughter again.

"I didn't think about Grimm with this armor. Hell, I didn't even create its design." Six's response was a little defensive. He did repaint the armor to be pitch black with glowing red optics. And he hated how they called it archaic, just because he wore armor didn't make it archaic!

" _I think it's cool,_ " read Neo's message as she held up her scroll and gave Six a thumbs up.

Mercury's laughter renewed after he read Neo's message, causing the girl to pout.

"Thanks," Joshua replied in a quiet tone. "Now be quiet, I'm watching."

"-u're not even supposed to have that information. His description is supposed to be classified," Weiss said in a much less calm tone.

"Oh, well I wouldn't worry about that. The public is just curious if…"

"This interview is over," Weiss responded, not bothering to let the reporter speak again. "Come on Whitley."

The boy slowly rose out of his chair and followed after his sister who stormed out of the room.

And that's where the video ended. Six leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. There was a lot was going on that he didn't like. Again, that nagging ping of guilt kept creeping up his spine. And Again, he had to suppress it.

There were a few moments of uncharacteristic silence before Mercury spoke up, "c'mon you don't actually feel bad for that spoiled rich kid, right?"

Six got to thinking. Why had Mercury bothered to come bug him? The two of them had passing conversations that weren't hostile since the mission ended but visiting him was something else.

"Why did you come here," the Courier asked while watching Neo quietly hum to herself.

A squint came from Mercury as he eyed Six. "Roman and Cinder want to see you. I don't understand why you're broken up over this, I mean we got enough Dust for Beacon and…"

The boy paused before chuckling. "I get it, you're just trying to get me talking. I've already said more than I'm supposed to. You're good at this."

Mercury stood up before stretching. "Welp, I'm getting out of here before you weasel more info out of me." With that said, the teen made his way to the door. "See ya around," he continued as he disappeared into the hall. "And we'll talk about your lack of Aura later!"

"Well… Guess I better go see them." While speaking, Joshua rose to his feet before heading towards the door himself. Trying to ignore Mercury attempting to tell his secrets.

It wasn't comfortable wearing his armor all the time to disguise who he was but it also meant that when Neo tugged on his coat, he felt it.

Turning to Neo, he saw that she had a soft smile and was holding up her scroll. It read, " _don't worry, you'll get used to it._ " Did that mean to Mercury? The group? Killing? It was hard to tell with her.

"Uh, thanks," Six replied before moving to stand next to his door. "But now you need to leave. I can't just leave you in my room."

The girl pouted at him to which Six leaned forward, giving her a look of his own. Neo sighed before hopping out of the bed and skipping past him.

With one last glance at his room to make sure no one had stolen anything, Six was ready. He closed the door.

* * *

"What kept you," Cinder asked as the Courier walked into the briefing room.

"Your "employee" didn't inform me you needed me until after a short conversation." Joshua's words caused the raven-haired boss to frown.

Roman smirked but otherwise didn't comment as Cinder made a clicking noise.

"Well then, let's get down to business," the conman said in a cheery tone as he stepped towards Six. "We have a mission for you. Well, two but this one sets up for the other one."

"There's a Huntsman who's been asking too many questions. We need you to accompany Adam and take care of it." Cinder's explanation was straight to the point.

"Right, and why didn't you brief us together?" Six knew there had to be a reason for it.

"In due time," Torchwick replied while pointing his cane at the Courier. "You see, this guy has been questioning the local Faunus about what the White Fang has been up to. He's a Faunus so he gets farther than other people."

Roman's cane went from pointing at Six to pointing at the image displayed on the holo-projector. A man dressed in a grey hoodie and jeans came into view with the hood pulled over his head. Two brown fox ears were sticking out of the holes in his hood. He looked like a normal guy, a little pale like he hadn't seen the sun in a while. A five-o clock shadow on his face. This guy kind of looked like a loser actually.

"Is he… Deep cover," Six asked in an uncertain tone.

Roman nodded his head before replying, "actually yes. Kestrel Swift here is skilled in reconnaissance and espionage. He's forty-three, an accomplished Huntsman, his semblance is heightened mental processes, and he carries a concealable spear that doubles as a sniper. Apparently, he packs quite a bit of other equipment too."

"Adam will be your contact and guide for this one. Just follow his lead and you'll find Kestrel. I'm sure you both can take down a big, bad, huntsman together." The taunting tone Torchwick took made neither Six nor Cinder laugh.

The conman lightly pulled on his collar while saying, "tough crowd."

"When am I setting off," Six asked, ignoring Roman's words. "And why isn't Adam here?"

"Because there's another mission we need to brief you on," Cinder replied while crossing her arms.

Roman crossed his arms as well though more in annoyance. "I wanted to tell him why he has to stay in his armor."

Cinder sighed before saying, "you'll strike fear as Mimic when you kill a trained Huntsman which will work towards our end goals"

And that's when Six realized that Roman and Neo shared more personality traits than he thought as Roman pouted at his boss.

"With that out of the way, in less than two months Beacon starts its next term. You're going to work there as security." Roman's façade of sadness disappeared as he explained the second mission.

"How long, what's my alias, and why," the Courier asked. This was definitely a different kind of mission. He also knew that Beacon was part of this big plan of Cinder's.

Roman's smile never faltered as he replied, "for… Until the Vytal Festival. Make up one, we'll get the background figured out. And… We can't tell you."

Oh great, more information he couldn't know about. And he vaguely remembered something about the Vytal Festival being important in Remnant's history. Wasn't it a way off from now?

"Just keep low and we'll let you know when we need you to do something." This time the conman's words served to irritate Six.

"How are you supposed to supply me with materials and Lien inside the school." Joshua still hadn't told them about the transportalponder yet but he didn't want to be cut off from his supplies.

Roman chuckled before responding, "banks are a thing and the academy has raw supplies and tools there for your little project."

So they did know he was working on something. That wasn't good for him but they probably didn't know what it was yet.

"Fine, I'll do it but I want more funds. When do I leave for this mission and for Beacon?" Six wasn't happy to be going undercover but he was a professional. He wouldn't show his irritation.

"Done and done, and you'll be leaving in four days," the conman replied.

"You're free to go," Cinder said after Roman finished.

Good, he didn't really want to talk to them anymore. Six made his way out of the room deep in thought. What didn't they want him to know?

Beacon, Vytal Festival, Dust, White Fang; what did all of these have in common? It clicked then. Was she planning an attack on Beacon?

Why hadn't he seen it sooner? They were terrorists, Beacon was a symbol of knowledge and hope, the Vytal Festival was perfect for publicity. They also had the numbers in the White Fang and enough Dust to create massive explosions or stock a small army.

But was it really only to spread terror? Why were they doing it? There wasn't enough information at the moment for Six to piece it all together. For now, he'd stick to figuring out his alias.

And as he walked back towards his room, spotting Neo still waiting outside it to annoy him, he thought of.

Ulysses House. A perfect insult to both Ulysses and House.

* * *

Author's Note:

Will Six figure out Cinder's scheme? Will Adam and the Courier be able to take down this new Huntsman? Will Neo and Mercury ever stop annoying Joshua? Find out next time on Dragon Bal-Remnants of a Courier!

* * *

Current Gear:

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear

Modified Stealth Suit Mk. II

Mysterious Magnum

Rebreather

Maria

Survivalist Rifle

Modified Anti-Material Rifle.

YCS/186 Gauss Rifle variant.

C4 – Plastic explosives (4)

Detonator.

Frag Grenades (4)

Frag Mines (0)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades (10)


	15. Chapter 14: White Fang's Surprise

Author's Note:

More inspiration. Usually I don't update this regularly or fast but I was feeling the last few chapters.

" _Text_ "

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

Chapter 14: White Fang's Surprise

* * *

It had been a few days since his briefing with Torchwick and Cinder. So far, everything had gone smoothly. They acquired the funds they needed and had just acquired the clothing too. Even had a place to stay in a small motel.

The bigger problem was finding this Kestrel. The guy was good at hiding and they had little to no leads other than he was in the city and questioning Faunus.

The other big problem is that Vale didn't have much in the way of slums. The city had been thriving for the last few decades and nearly no one lived in poverty. This also included the Faunus. Apparently, Vale was progressive in the sense that there was no systematic oppression in their government.

The only oppression that could be found here was on an individual level. Sometimes a person would say something offensive to a Faunus. Joshua compared it to back home and considered it a blessing.

This all cultivated into a small White Fang presence in the city. Only a few locals joined the White Fang and the rest of the local group were from other areas of the world. Even more problematic is that only Adam's sect of the White Fang was violent…

Right now, they had a bigger problem.

"This is stupid," Adam commented, standing outside of a changing room.

Both Six and Adam were currently perusing a small rundown clothing store on the outskirts of the city. They had low prices but you were also likely to run into trouble around here too.

The Courier shrugged while eyeing some clothing on a rack. "It's cheap and we need some clothes for the mission. Besides, "You Have the Money and we Don't ask Questions," is a great slogan in my book."

The Faunus tugged on the red t-shirt that had the words "I'll be your Beacon" plastered across the front of it. "This is humiliating," the White Fang leader said before sighing.

"You need to look like someone who isn't going to kill somebody. People don't suspect idiots." The Courier punctuated his words by handing a red and black cap to Adam.

The Courier himself wasn't as incognito yet. He had on the Burned Man's armor but he had previously removed the vest. Now he was a guy in jeans, a t-shirt, and bandages.

Joshua's finger idly ran over several different jackets before settling on a black one. On it was some kind of metal band cover with skulls and spikes.

"That's so inconspicuous," Adam commented in a deadpan tone. "No one will ever possibly notice you."

"Listen here," Six began as he picked up the hoodie before grabbing a red scarf from a nearby shelf. "The bandages aren't optional so this is the best I can do."

At the explanation, the Faunus eyed his companion for a moment. As the two headed for the counter he said, "what's with you… Covering everything?"

"Since when did you get so friendly and invasive, you warming up to humans," Joshua responded while placing some Lien on the counter. He turned to the employee before saying, "what my friends wearing plus this." Said employee put a book down that she had been reading with an irritated sigh.

At the question, Adam crossed his arms. "No, you're all still walking trash and monsters. You're just a little less human waste."

"Wonderful," Six replied while rolling his eyes. When he turned back to the counter, he saw that he had been given change. The employee behind the counter was a younger woman with large bags under her eyes. She eyed Adam for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and going back to her book.

Taking the change and clothing, Six walked out the front door with Adam in tow. "You know you really should work on that attitude; racism isn't good for our cover."

"It's not racism if it's true," Adam responded, still tugging at his new clothes. "Besides humans treated us like animals way before I was around."

The black hoodie was now equipped to Six's form as he wrapped the scarf around his neck and mouth. "Doesn't mean it's an excuse for you to do the same."

At that comment, the Faunus seemed legitimately annoyed, a scowl crossing his face. "You don't know a thing about what I've been through."

"Whatever, I'm not here to argue morals anyways, just don't let it interfere with the mission." At Six's statement, Adam rolled his eyes though the other wouldn't be able to see it. The two had gotten him a pair of overly large sunglasses that hid most of his upper face. It was enough that the scar Joshua had recently discovered hardly showed.

Joshua wasn't sure what the entire scar was as he had only seen bits of it but it was likely that the bull Faunus was blind in one eye.

"Alright, lead the way," Six said, waving his hand forward. "You're the Faunus after all."

* * *

"You're telling me you actually get very little White Fang support because the other parts of the White Fang don't agree with you?" Six's question was punctuated by the human bringing a hand to his face. "Do you not see that maybe you're being a bit extreme?"

"Of course it's extreme but we've only targeted SDC so far. Innocents never get hurt." Adam turned back to look at the building the two had just come from.

It was a local Faunus rights group that wasn't a part of the White Fang. Instead of protesting, they tried finding ways to change legislation in Vale to help the Faunus through official means. Adam had gone in to get possible information but they had all been very tight-lipped. No one in the group appreciated the White Fang's efforts.

"You can't get change any other way," Adam said while rubbing his temples. The Faunus as developing a headache.

Six agreed on some level. Often violence had to be enacted to create change. He just didn't agree with Adam's reasoning for the violence.

Joshua turned to Adam before asking, "so what now? That was a bust."

"There's a White Fang protest going on tomorrow. One of my lieutenants is running it. I'm going to head over to it and ask some questions. I was hoping we could get a few of this human's habits from these Faunus but… Not everyone agrees." There was a pause in the conversation as Adam seemed to get lost in thought.

"I suggest you don't come," Adam finally continued as he walked down the street with Six in tow. "Humans aren't welcome in a lot of these events."

"Aren't there humans that support the White Fang?" Six's question caused Adam to sigh.

"Yes, there are, but we have to get violent sometimes to create change. It can be hard to identify enemies and friends." Adam's response caused Joshua to frown. This would put a hamper on his plans.

There was a pause in the conversation as they walked along. Six took the time to really take in the sights of the city. He hadn't been given proper time until now to really enjoy it. The entire place was like something out of an Old World propaganda poster. Buildings were so damn tall here!

Plus you had an absolutely huge amount of people. If Six thought the Strip was a busy place, Vale blew it out of the water. This sort of technology, stability, and resources was exactly what the Mojave and the Wasteland needed to get back to a sense of safety.

The thought caused Joshua to frown. Sometimes he regretted killing House. The man was a narcissist and wanted to be a dictator but he was efficient and did want the best for the people of the Mojave. His ideas of what was best conflicted with a lot of people though, including Six himself.

Adam stopped and Six was forced from his thoughts.

"I say you go and mingle. I'll stay back at long range and keep you covered." The Courier's words seemed to annoy Adam.

"There shouldn't be any problems," the Faunus responded.

A sigh escaped Joshua before he responded, "this guy is gathering intel on the White Fang. While this isn't technically an official "White Fang" protest so the authorities can't disrupt it, everyone knows this is being set up by them. Our guy is going to be there."

Adam crossed his arms and considered the Courier's word. "I get it. Just don't get any Faunus injured. I don't like the idea of killing another Faunus but he's working for the humans now. He's a traitor…"

At the mention of a traitor, Adam seemed to lose himself in thought as well. It was obvious to the Courier what the White Fang leader was thinking about.

"Hey, hey," Six began as he snapped his fingers. "Keep your head in the game. Think about Blake another time."

"Right… I'll see you at the protest tomorrow. I've got some errands to run…" Even though Adam said he was fine, Six could tell he was anything but as he walked away.

Though… This was a perfect opportunity for some information gathering…

* * *

The time had come. Adam was currently making his way through the area where the protest was taking place. Some public park that was being torn down. It was a local hotspot for Faunus. Adam personally thought there were bigger fish to fry but these small protests garnered support for their cause. It was already dark out by now with it being evening already.

It was both reassuring and a bit unnerving to know that in one of the nearby buildings his partner was lying in wait. He still didn't fully trust the guy. Probably never would. Six was as shifty as they came.

That being said… He not only took down that Schnee bastard but also supported him when Blake abandoned him. Adam would never call the man an ally but he was a useful asset to keep close for the time being.

His eyes wandered over the crowd and he couldn't help but frown. There were humans in the crowd and it did support their cause but part of him boiled at the sight. Humans pretending they cared. He'd show them how it felt to be oppressed someday, then they'd understand.

Then Adam spotted a man going by the name Lucas Wood. One of the officers in his division of the White Fang. A bull Faunus like himself with pure white hair.

The red-haired Faunus strode towards his subordinate with confidence and impatience. It wasn't long until he approached Lucas. People moved out of his way at the sight.

"Lieutenant, I assume you got my message," Adam asked while looking down at the shorter Faunus.

The lieutenant nodded his head as he replied, "I did. We haven't spotted any such man in the area though I have my men looking. I've also got people asking about his location. We've got a little info. Mostly that he's moving every night. Though we do think he might be visiting a warehouse nearby."

Maybe that was his main hideout? Six and him would have to investigate it later.

And though he tried to ignore it, Adam did spot his subordinate gazing at what he was wearing. Taurus just hoped this day would be over soon.

"Good keep me posted, I'm going to go lo-"

Adam was cut off as a White Fang soldier made his way over to the lieutenant.

"Sir, we just spotted a man with that description questioning some of the protestors." The news from the new arrival caused Adam to smile.

Before Lucas could respond, Adam spoke, "where at? Now. Quickly."

"I-Uh… He's on the other side of the park. Wearing the outfit described sir…"

The nervousness from the guy didn't bother Adam who immediately turned and headed in that direction.

"We've got him," Adam said into the comm unit that Six had provided him. It was in his ear which meant he didn't have to keep pulling out his scroll to chat.

There was a moment of silence before Six responded, "moving positions to a better vantage point. Just confirm and tail the target. We don't want to engage him here."

This time the Faunus didn't bother responding as he began running across the park. Honestly, he usually let his men handle situations like these but he also didn't think that his troops could handle a fully trained Huntsman on their own. While he didn't like being Cinder's lackey, he wasn't going to risk his men's lives.

It took a few minutes of running followed by another minute or two of searching but Adam finally spotted him.

The guy looked shady but at least he wasn't a human. Still… "I've found the target, keeping my distance…"

That's when he spotted Kestrel talking to a girl. They spoke for a few moments before said Faunus turned and pointed at Adam.

In turn, Adam's eyes went wide as Kestrel turned, looked at him, and they both realized they were looking for each other.

Then the bull Faunus' eyes narrowed as Kestrel began approaching him. This could get ugly.

"Adam, I have the target in my sights. I see that he's approaching you. Remain calm. The plan has changed, I just need you to keep him still long enough for me to reposition one more time."

What was Six talking about? Didn't they want to avoid a public scene?

"I take it you're Adam," the older man questioned. His tone was soft and the guy carried himself in a relaxed manner. Slouched back, hands in his pockets, and a soft smile on his face.

The White Fang member frowned as he was addressed. He didn't even have his weapon on him because of the whole "disguise" thing that Six wanted to do that immediately fell apart.

But Adam kept his cool, crossing his arms before responding, "and I take it you're Kestrel. You need to stop poking your nose where it doesn't belong."

"And you need to stop all this Dust stealing business for Roman. I don't know what your plan is yet but I'll get the proof and take you down."

The older Faunus' words brought out the anger in Adam. "We're fighting for Faunus! You're the one who's on the wrong side."

The older man chuckled, his laugh lines deepening before he said, "if you truly believed that you wouldn't be working with Roman. But that's beside the point, I'm a Huntsman first and I have a job to stop you."

Kestrel's small smile didn't fade as he produced a cigarette pack from his pocket before placing a cigarette in his mouth and lighting it. The hood over his head cast a long shadow and the light from the cigarette cast an imposing figure.

"I'll give you two options," the Huntsman said before he took a drag. After expelling the smoke from his mouth, he continued, "turn yourself in. Or stop, leave, and never come back. Pretty reasonable huh?"

It wasn't. But he just needed to keep the target talking.

"I'm in position, give me a few moments and I'll solve the situation." Six's words confused Adam. What did "solve the situation" mean?

"And if I chose neither," Adam said, refocusing his attention on Kestrel.

"Then I stop you, simple as that. And you don't want me to have to stop you." The older gentleman took another drag from his cigarette before continuing, "so, what'll it be."

And then the man's head exploded. Well, more accurately the side of Kestrel's head exploded. What. The. Fuck?

Adam's eyes went wide as he watched Kestrel's eyes open in surprise before dimming and losing focus. This happened as his head jerked to the side before the Huntsman's entire body fell. The shot that rung out was louder than any gun he had heard before.

There were a few shocking moments of silence before the screaming started. The crowds began panicking, running every which way to get away from the sniper. Some of the protestors that didn't see the event were pushed out of the way by those that did.

However, there were a select few protestors that had spotted something. They pointed and Adam's head swiveled to see Six standing on a rooftop in his usual armor. What kind of insane stunt was this?

Some of the protestors had even pulled out their phones since Six was practically striking a pose. They did their best to record the sniper as he turned and walked away from the ledge.

"Adam, search the body, take his Scroll and anything that could reveal his hiding place." Six's words finally snapped Adam out of his daze.

The Faunus began searching the Huntsman's pockets, soon finding a Scroll and calling it good. Normally it would have been a problem but the panicked crowd running around meant he could loot the body in peace.

As he stood back up, Lucas came running over to him. "Boss, what was that?" His tone was bordering on panicked as sirens began closing in on the area. Vale law enforcement.

"Tell all White Fang members to scatter, I'll fill you in later," Adam responded as he took off. He was going to go back to the motel and have a few questions for Six.

* * *

"What was that Six," Roman shouted at the Courier who was now back in his disguise. The two had managed to make their way back to the motel they were staying in.

In response, Joshua shrugged. "The plan changed. Now the "Mimic" has killed a fully trained Huntsman at a protest. That inspires fear right?"

"Not the point, you didn't discuss it with me! These are my people!"

The Courier didn't understand Adam's indignation. The job was done and none White Fang were harmed. Hell, they could even gain more publicity as a victim of the Human Grimm.

"None of them were hurt. Besides he was going to get away. It all worked out." The Courier took a seat on a chair in their cozy little motel room.

And by cozy Six meant run down. Holes in the walls, dirty grime on the floor. He was pretty sure there were bedbugs.

"It all worked out?! You are going to scare Faunus away from protesting!" It was obvious to Six that Adam was really losing his mind over nothing.

"No, they'll rally at the death of a Faunus and you'll get more supporters for the White Fang."

Adam's face went from angry to enraged as he threw his glasses against the wall. "At the cost of a Faunus life!"

Six got a full view of the scar now. "S.D.C." branded right into the guy's face. The Schnee family had really done a number on him. It even made him blind in one eye.

"Lives are lost in war all the time; we can't cry over a few spilled eggs…"

Adam was going to retort to Six's nonchalant attitude but realized that his eyes were exposed. The Courier noticed a look of shame cross the Faunus' face as he quickly grabbed his iconic mask out of his pack.

"We'll talk about this later… Right now, we need to get back to base." Adam didn't bother to wait for Six to respond as he moved to the door.

The Courier watched him slam the door and frowned under his bandages. Sure, Adam being upset was annoying but he'd get over it. What was more worrying was what Six didn't mention to him.

Right before the shot, Joshua had been packing. What would pierce Huntsman Aura? He couldn't rely on his "anti-Aura" ability whatever it was.

Whatever punched through Logarius' aura hadn't worked on Neo. However, he had been able to kick Mercury. Six guessed that it was either proximity or some sort of subconscious effort he didn't know he was putting out. Maybe a combination of both.

Either way, he hadn't been able to use it on Kestrel. Instead, he had opted for his anti-material rifle. He had quickly switched out the barrel to chamber his regular bullets and donned his elite riot armor.

Six even loaded the armor-piercing rounds into the anti-material rifle. The Courier equated Huntsman to walking tanks but even tanks couldn't stand up to these rounds. And he had proven himself right when he eliminated Kestrel.

The problem came when he was loading the rounds. There, across the park from him, standing on another building was a figure. It had been watching them. For how long Six didn't know.

It looked like a human figure but it was entirely pitch-black. Whether it was because of the distance or the dark he wasn't sure. But Six was sure that it reminded him of that black Grimm that Richter had mentioned. The one that killed his wife. But Six was able to make out hazy feminine features. It left after watching for a while.

The entire event left him unnerved and eager to get back to base. It was also part of the reason he had rushed the job the kill Kestrel. He had too many questions and not enough answers.

For now, he would head over to the deceased Faunus' base and take the information this Kestrel had gathered for himself. Maybe he could piece together what Kestrel couldn't.

* * *

Author's Note:

Lots of mystery going on. I hope you're enjoying the story so far!

* * *

Current Gear:

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear

Modified Stealth Suit Mk. II

Mysterious Magnum

Rebreather

Maria

Survivalist Rifle

Modified Anti-Material Rifle.

YCS/186 Gauss Rifle variant.

C4 – Plastic explosives (4)

Detonator.

Frag Grenades (4)

Frag Mines (0)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades (10)


	16. Chapter 15: Possibilities

Author's Note:

Hey readers! I realized for one of the chapters I forgot to update the chapter number so it's mislabeled. My apologies for that.

Also, we've got one more chapter after this one and the second arc of this story will be over!

I do have a favor to ask the viewers. I've only seen the main show of RWBY but I know the Chibi and RWBY books/manga exist. One, what RWBY books are the ones I should get to really get information to expand on this story. Two, should I watch Chibi to get a better understanding? I'm not into the style at all but if it's important I will.

" _Text_ "

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

 _Chapter 15: Possibilities_

* * *

It was good that Adam and Six had found that Huntsman when they did. The Courier was going over the information he gathered and Kestrel had come uncomfortably close to vital information. In fact, the dead Huntsman knew some things that even Six hadn't realized.

Kestrel had gotten word from some unnamed informant that part of the plan was to get the Atlas military riled up so they would send forces in.

More importantly, the Huntsman not only figured out that Roman wasn't working alone but that Ozpin was the one who sent Kestrel to investigate who was really behind these recent attacks.

The good headmaster of Beacon was aware of Cinder or at least a third party involved. This probably meant that Six was on this guy's hit list now.

Social media and the news channels were covering him still as well. The Huntsman Killer, the Human Grimm, Mimic. It was all outrageous, the public got upset over every little death.

Six clicked his tongue as he wondered how long it would take for someone from Rhyt to recognize his armor in the news. Then they'd probably figure he made Logarius disappear too.

Still, it had been a week since the last incident and two weeks since the train and nobody had said anything. His secret was safe for now and even if they did find out they still didn't know who he actually was.

"Hello my second favorite employee," Roman said as he entered Six's room. Six was about to respond when the conman continued. "We need to have a conversation, in the briefing room if you would."

Torchwick disappeared before the Wastelander could get a word in. He was being pretty evasive about something.

The Courier turned to Neo who was currently laying on his bed. She had been playing with her Scroll but when Roman walked in she stopped. The grin on her face didn't comfort Six in the least.

On top of that, everyone kept coming into his room unannounced because of her. He had installed better electronic and physical locks on his door. She still managed to find her way in. At this point, Six figured nothing short of a vault door would stop her.

Joshua became even more worried when he stood up and Neo quickly followed suit. The girl even followed him out the door before he closed it. Normally it took him forcing her out.

It had been roughly a month that he had started working for this group now and he still couldn't quite get a read on what Neo wanted most of the time.

With his room locked up, he made his way to the briefing room to find nearly everyone waiting for him. This couldn't be good.

"Take a seat," Cinder said as she extended her hand. There was one seat in the center of the room. Of course. He didn't panic though. If they wanted him dead, they would have attacked already.

Six strode past Mercury and Emerald before passing by Adam as well. Neo parked herself next to Roman to Joshua's left and Cinder was directly in front of the chair.

The Courier took his seat and found Cinder looking down at him. Her eyes looked like they were on literal fire for a moment and Six had to tilt his head to the side. Did he just imagine that?

"We know you've been snooping around where you don't belong." Cinder's words were icy cold but she wasn't stabbing him yet so that was good.

Out of the corner of his eye, Six could see Neo sticking her tongue out at him as Roman approached.

"We can't have that. You're useful and we have plans for you. However, this is basically your one and only warning." The conman tapped his cane on the ground as he continued, "stop or we take you out of the equation. Not that I'm a math guy but I think your odds against us are… Less than favorable."

"Okay, done," the Courier replied. He had to keep his cool at the moment. An agreement now could be broken later and he wouldn't mind. Whatever got him out of this situation. He doubted that was all they brought him in here for.

Torchwick clapped his hands together as he took a step back. "Good, however, we still have other issues."

After speaking, Roman waved his hand towards Adam who said, "how did you punch through that Huntsman's Aura? One bullet? You'd have to be packing a cannon to do that."

"I have special bullets," Six responded, trying to be as vague as possible.

"Bullshit, it's got to be whatever your semblance is," Mercury cut in as he stepped towards Six. His finger was aimed directly at his mask as he spoke. "I can't detect your Aura and you hit me through mine."

In response, Joshua crossed his arms. "I can't reveal all of my secrets. How am I supposed to land my next job?"

"Oh come the fuck on!" The grey-haired teen was practically shouting at Six now. "That's not going to cut it here. Against all of us, you're nothing, so you're going to tell us or we kill you."

A fit of familiar anger flared up in the Butcher of House. "Cinder," he began as he could feel the anger radiating off him, practically heating up the room. "Tell your bitch here to back off unless he wants a repeat ass kicking. And this time he'll leave in a body bag."

The situation took a turn against him. Instead of metaphorical heat, literal heat started up in the room. Actual flames began forming on Cinder's dress. Even his Terrifying Presence couldn't do that.

Mercury and Emerald seemed actually scared at the moment. The two backing up while Roman stood behind Neo. Meanwhile, Adam stood there, clenching his fists.

"Talk to my subordinate again in that tone and you won't have a tongue to speak with." Cinder's words were pretty clear as she made a point to tower over Six. "Make another comment I don't like and you're charred ash."

Still, Six kept his cool as he leaned forward. "Fine, fine, I just don't appreciate his tone," Joshua replied though he did clench his hand together. He wasn't sure if he could take all of them in a fight but he bet he could snap Cinder's neck before anyone got to him.

"And I'm not lying, it's the truth," the Courier continued as he leaned back. The air seemed to cool down as everyone's emotions settled.

He pulled out an anti-material round from his pocket before saying, "I've custom made these bullets to pierce damn near anything. Even Aura. And before you ask, no I won't be showing you how to make it. Trade secret."

Cinder frowned but seemed to accept his answer as she asked, "as for your own Aura?"

"Don't know, never had one for as long as I've remembered. Makes it easy to hide." Six didn't exactly lie, he just… Didn't tell her he was from another world most likely.

"That's impossible, everyone can unlock one. No one has unlocked yours is all." This time it was Emerald who spoke as she stepped towards him.

"Cinder, may I," the green-haired girl questioned as she held a hand towards Six who looked at her curiously.

The amber-eyed girl nodded her head seemingly curious herself.

At Cinder's confirmation, Emerald closed her eyes and seemingly channeled energy into her hand and at him. Joshua wondered what exactly was happening?

"I'm just sad you don't do the whole speech," Mercury taunted from behind Emerald.

"Quiet," Emerald replied as she concentrated. "You don't have to do it and I need to focus."

The girl's brow furrowed as she poured more and more energy into her task. Beads of sweat slowly began forming on her forehead. This lasted for a few long moments before Emerald finally gave up.

"I… He's right… I can't unlock his Aura at all…" Her breathing was coming in hard now as she seemingly winded herself.

Her grey-haired partner chuckled for a few moments before saying, "wow, you really are like a Grimm. No Aura, black armor, red eyes, and no soul."

Technically his eyes weren't red under his mask but that was beside the point.

"Satisfied," Six asked as he leaned back in his chair, getting comfortable.

"For now…" It was obvious Cinder still suspected him but had no proof. Joshua would have to be on his best behavior for a while.

"For now, everyone except Six and Roman leave," the woman in the red dress said as she looked around expectantly.

Emerald and Mercury immediately obeyed, heading for the door. Adam seemed to pause for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and leaving. That left Neo…

The girl turned and pouted at Roman who sighed.

"Neo, leave," both Six and Roman said at the same time before turning to each other. A look of understanding seemed to cross Roman's face along with a smirk.

The ice-cream themed girl pouted harder while putting a hand to her chest. She turned in an exaggerated and hurt manner before making her way towards the door and leaving.

Six knew that everyone would keep asking questions about what he had done and his Aura. It was the first time someone didn't have even a possibility to unlock an Aura. For now, he'd focus on the new topic.

"With that out of the way, we've got new information on your next mission," Roman said as he turned the holo-projector on.

On the screen was his bandaged face splayed across it. "Ulysses House," Roman began as he pressed a button and the image changed to an ID.

"From a now destroyed and forgotten town in Vacuo, you grew up in poverty before being taken in by a local group of criminals, the "Splinters." Known for being really annoying."

Another slide flashed and it showed a small group of relatively armed people. They were wearing outdated and run-down military gear.

The conman pointed his cane towards the projection before continuing, "after the Splinters fell apart, you sold your services as a private contractor. Taking whatever dangerous and well-paying job you could get. A mercenary for short. And that's what you do today."

"Seems straightforward enough," the Courier responded as he crossed one leg over another. "But how am I going to get hired at Beacon."

"Hold your Dust I'm getting to that." Roman sighed before muttering, "no one has patience anymore"

Roman's mood improved however as he tapped his cane on the ground and continued, "we're going to need a week or two to secure everything and get the scenario set up…"

A smirk crossed the conman's face. "I'm going to be helping with that. We're going to rob a Dust store. Whichever one. We don't really need the Dust anymore as we have most of what we need but it does give Mr. House here a moment to intervene."

The Courier could see where this was going as he cut him off. "I swoop in as House and save the day. I look good to Beacon and I'll have the background for it."

Roman nodded his head at his words as he said, "true. We'll also have your application put in a few days prior so you're already in the system. We may also tamper with the application process to ensure you get hired."

"What will be my job once inside?"

Six's question was met by Roman saying, "reconnaissance mostly. You'll tell us where security is and what the general schedules are as well as gather any information you deem important." He paused for a moment before continuing, "other than that… We'll give you tasks to do on the inside via a secured Scroll that you'll bring in."

The conman chuckled for a moment. "Plus, you'll get paid by them as well."

That was all the information Six needed. "Just let me know when it's happening then. Anything else?"

Cinder shook her head before saying, "no. You're dismissed."

At least he made it out of this alive. The Courier stood from his seat before making his way to the door. Once he opened it, he spotted Neo standing outside and waiting for him.

"Jesus Neo, do you always have to pester people?" Joshua's question got a smirk from the girl before she gave him a quizzical look.

With practiced hands, Neo typed out a message on her scroll before presenting it to him. " _Who's Jesus_?"

Oh, this was not a question he needed at the moment. "Nobody, I'm assuming you want more ice cream?"

Six's diversion seemed to work on Neo who's face lit up as she shook her head up and down.

* * *

All this girl did was think about ice cream. Neo was currently eating a spoonful of the stuff as Six sat in silence across the table from her. Some White Fang grunts were in the room but they seemed to mostly ignore the two.

This gave time for Six to reflect on the transportalponder. He hadn't made much progress so far other than finding out some of the compounds that the Think Tank had used. Of course, Uranium and other highly toxic materials were used.

None of this helped Six to find a replacement for the energy source though he was able to rebuild some of the destroyed pieces now.

A combination of Ice and Wind Dust seemed to react best to the equipment so far. By react best, he meant made the smaller explosions. He was still far away from getting this thing working. Maybe the equipment at Beacon could help.

That was when he noticed Adam standing at the door to the kitchen area, motioning for him to come over.

Six glanced towards Neo before saying, "gotta go, someone wants to chat."

The girl made a small whining noise but didn't move from her ice cream as he left.

"What do you need Adam," Joshua asked as he approached the Faunus.

The White Fang leader held up a hand before moving out into the hall. The Courier followed, closing the door to the kitchen behind him.

"I wanted to say that I don't like this situation." Adam's words didn't surprise Six though he was curious as to why tell him now.

The Faunus leaned against a wall before continuing, "I need to get out from under Cinder's thumb and I think you do too. I know we don't have the greatest track record but I'm willing to forget that protest incident if you hear me out.

The Courier shrugged before nodding for Adam to continue.

"I think you should keep digging. They don't have nearly as much oversight of you at Beacon. I say you find the reason for them wanting it to come crumbling down." Adam seemed to put a lot of trust into him to tell him this. After all, this was technically confidential.

"Then when we figure out their entire plan and we make some changes so that they go down with Beacon," the Faunus continued as he looked at Six. "What do you think?"

There wasn't a moment of hesitation before Six responded, "I'm in. But I think we should try to get Neo and Roman in on it. I don't think they like Cinder anymore than we do."

"You can try if you want but I'd say no. The guy treats Faunus like any other human would, as trash." What Adam said wasn't incorrect though Six suspected Torchwick treated everyone like trash.

There was a short lull in the conversation as the two sat in thought.

Then Roman pushed himself away from the wall before saying, "for what it's worth, I'm sorry to hear they've got you by the throat with that family. You shouldn't bring children into these sorts of things."

With that said, the Faunus walked off down the hall and out of sight. Leaving Six to frown as he realized Adam knew about the Spring family. Things were never simple.

"Shit," he muttered to himself as he made his way down the hall in the opposite direction. He could go work on the transportalponder some more and think about how things were progressing.

* * *

Author's Note:

Alright, some news. There's technically only one chapter in this arc left. However, I don't really want to go into it without doing some more research. So, this story will be going on hiatus for a bit. Not sure how long but no longer than my usual gaps.

I still very much want to continue this story but there's material I need to cover first.

As for other stories, no my other stories are not abandoned yet. However, I've enjoyed writing this one the most. This means that I want to get this one relatively finished before I work on my other ones. This means a very long hiatus for those.

* * *

Current Gear:

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear

Modified Stealth Suit Mk. II

Mysterious Magnum

Rebreather

Maria

Survivalist Rifle

Modified Anti-Material Rifle.

YCS/186 Gauss Rifle variant.

C4 – Plastic explosives (4)

Detonator.

Frag Grenades (4)

Frag Mines (0)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades (10)


	17. Chapter 16: Of Roses and Couriers

Author's Note:

Hope you enjoy this chapter! This is the final one of this arc! Oh, and some story information and update progression info are in the notes after the chapter. If you want to know what I have planned next, look there.

" _Text_ "

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

 _Chapter 16: Of Roses and Couriers_

* * *

Ruby had always been interested in weapons from a young age. This was fueled by her uncle teaching her how to build and use weapons like Crescent Rose. That and the loss of…

The scythe-wielder shook her head trying to dislodge any such thoughts and return to her magazine. Weapons were displayed on its pages and she took delight in them. That and the music that was currently blasting through the headphones she had on.

Right now, Ruby was located in a Dust store in Vale. She just needed to pick up some supplies for Crescent Rose before heading back to continue her studies at Signal. Her greatest desire was to become a Huntress and help people after all!

A tap on her shoulder brought the girl out of her concentration on the weapons in the magazine. She swiveled her head to spot a man in a suit and some fancy hat. The guy looked dress to kill. And from the red sword in his hand, Ruby guessed he was more than just dressed for it. The Huntress in training took off her headphones.

"Yes?" Her question came with a small smile spreading across her face.

The guy shook his head in an annoyed manner before replying, "I said put your hands in the air now."

There was a pause from Ruby and her grin slowly spread wider while she realized what was happening.

"Are you robbing me," she asked, raising a brow. She needed to be sure before she clobbered him after all.

"Yes," the robber replied in an exasperated tone.

"Oh…" Ruby held in a chuckle at what was about to happen.

In one fluid motion, the future Huntress extended her weapon—Crescent Rose—and pressed it against the ground. She then used it to prop herself up and deliver a kick to the thug and send him flying back.

Only a few moments later, a similar-looking man with a Dust pistol aimed at her. It looked like an older Atlesian model. No self-respecting Huntress would ever use such a thing. At least not without tuning it up first. Some cleaning, replacing a few parts, maybe some new Dust…

Her assailant got one shot off but it went wide as Ruby closed the distance in the blink of an eye. She and the robber were both sent out the window as the scythe-wielder kicked him through it.

She hoped the guy wasn't too hurt as the glass shattered on the ground around her. The rest of the muggers were gathering outside the store now. Okay, she needed to make this look cool. Strike a pose, strike a pose.

She slowly rose to her feet as her scythe extended out. Ruby then glanced at the bad guys out of the corner of her eye.

The future Huntress squealed on the inside. She had pulled that off perfectly.

Along with the armed thugs was a man in a white suit and bowler hat. He seemed to be leading these guys.

"Okay…" The leader said in a surprised tone. After a few moments of silence, he looked around before continuing, "get her."

The armed thugs sprung into action as they began charging at her. That was when a loud shot rang out and one of them fell to the ground while gripping his knee.

A man she hadn't seen before had taken down one of the thugs with a well-placed shot to the knee. She hadn't even seen him around the shop before the fight started nor did she see him approach.

His head was entirely covered in bandages and he wore a black combat vest over a white shirt. The man was holding a fancy looking pistol with engravings on it.

The thug leader with the brightly colored hair grimaced at the new arrival. She didn't have time to ponder on that as one of the robbers was closing in on her.

Ruby stabbed her scythe into the ground before using it to prop herself up and twirl around to gather momentum and kick the criminal in the face. The guy went flying backwards into the store as she landed with her feet on the ground.

Two more were charging at her but one fell to the ground with a bullet in his knee. Her new ally seemed to be keeping to the sideline and taking out who he could without getting in her way. What a good teammate!

She pointed her weapon to the side and fired it, using that to make her spin. As the robber who didn't go down approached her, she brought the non-sharp end of the scythe down on him, crushing him into the ground. She didn't want to kill him after all!

The last thug opened fire on her and Ruby fired her weapon again to give her the momentum to move out of the way. Ruby lunged left and right a few times to avoid the gunfire before using her weapon to close the distance.

As she came up to the thug with a gun, the bandaged man shot the weapon out of his hands. She used the opportunity to slide below the thug and kick his feet out from under him. The future Huntress followed this up by stabbing her blade into the ground and twirling around to kick the robber midair, sending him flying into the store too.

"Well… You were worth every cent, truly you were…" At the suited man's words, the bandaged man pointed his gun at him.

"Well Red, Bandages, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening." As he spoke, the thug leader threw his cigar on the ground before crushing it with his cane.

"And as much as I'd love to stick around," he continued as he pointed his cane at the bandaged man. "I'm afraid this is where we part ways."

What looked like Burn Dust came out of the end of the villain's cane and headed straight for her new ally. In turn, the bandaged man lunged out of the way but this did give her time to close in.

Ruby came at the villain at incredible speeds and brought her blade down at him but this guy wasn't a joke. He brought his cane up and managed to redirect the blow away from him and into the ground. When Ruby tried to use the scythe to lift herself up and kick him, the robber stepped back and away before kicking her blade. This caused her to fall to the ground without support.

By the time she was back on her feet, the villain had made his way over to a fire ladder that went up a building and had begun to climb. Her new ally had recovered and was in tow, climbing up the ladder as well.

"Will you be alright if I go after him," she asked, glancing towards the Dust store owner. The man in turned nodded slowly at her. He was old.

She fired her gun again propelling herself to the ladder before turning her scythe to the ground. Ruby fired and found herself flung to the roof doing a cool spin to show off her moves as she landed. Being a Huntress meant being cool right?

The bandaged man was ahead of her and pointing his weapon at the bad guy.

"Persistent," the suit-wearing man commented from his position on the opposite side of the rooftop. He was looking away from the two of them and down at something.

There was a loud whooshing noise as what looked like an Atlesian bullhead flew up into the air in front of the thug who in turn climbed into it.

At this point, the bandaged man had opened fire and was pinging bullets into the side of the dropship.

"End of the line you two," the bad guy said as he tossed what looked like a red Dust crystal at them. Ruby's eyes went wide as it landed at her feet.

The suited man raised his cane before shooting the crystal but not before her ally shot him in turn. The bullet only grazed his shoulder but the bad guy ducked back into the vehicle hissing in pain.

The crystal exploded and Ruby's ears rang as a figure dropped in front of her. For a few long moments, Ruby's vision was covered in dust from the explosion. As it faded, she could see sigils carved into the air in front of the new person.

There was a woman with blonde hair who was taller than her. She held what looked like a riding crop and a black and purple cape billowed on her back.

Slowly, the sigils faded and Ruby heard a small humming noise from the person in front of her. A large grin was settled on the scythe wielder's face as she realized this was a full-blown Huntress! A Huntress had come to help her!

She had to hold in a scream of joy as the blonde Huntress fixed her glasses on her nose. Then she waved her riding crop in front of her and purple projectiles launched at the bullhead.

Only then did Ruby's concern turn to the bandaged man who was slowly getting to his feet. He was a distance away on the roof but he looked relatively okay. Scorch marks covered his back and he had to pat his shoulder to put out a small fire still burning.

Her attention turned back to the battle at hand as the bullhead steadied itself. The Huntress launched another attack this time creating a small black storm cloud over the dropship. It quickly began pelting it with what looked like giant icicles.

Just when she thought it was over, a woman in a red dress stepped by the bullhead's open doors. There was a flash of bright light and the Huntress had to throw up a shield of some kind. What looked like lava splattered the ground around the blonde woman.

Ruby had to take a step back to avoid being caught in the crossfire as the spot where the lava had hit exploded with heat.

Luckily, the Huntress had backflipped away from the explosion and was being assisted by the bandaged man who shot at their assailant.

The evil lady took a few steps back and took cover in the bullhead from the bandaged man's bullets. This gave the Huntress a chance to use the debris from the explosion to form a giant spike that glowed purple.

It hovered in the air for a moment before launching at the bullhead which tipped to its side and took a glancing blow.

The spear broke apart and formed three smaller snake-like whips of debris that were quickly heading towards the bullhead. It never made it as orange energy pulsed from the woman which caused the whips to break into small orange shards.

Ruby blinked a few times before realizing she was being relatively useless. She took aim with her Crescent Rose and fired with the bandaged man at the fire lady. She, in turn, seemed to stop their projectiles by simply holding up her hand.

The Huntress saved Ruby again when she used her riding crop to pull her forward right before their opponent caused the ground below them to explode.

Unfortunately, this gave the bad guys enough time to escape. The bullhead hatch closed before it flew off into the night.

There were a few long moments of silence before Ruby glanced towards the Huntress as she, in turn, glanced at Ruby.

"You're a Huntress," Ruby muttered as the last member of their group approached. She was so excited that she couldn't stand it anymore! "Can I have your autograph?!"

"Thanks for forgetting I exist," the bandaged man commented as he wiped away some of the dust and dirt covering him.

Ruby was about to respond but the Huntress grabbed her by the ear as she said, "we're going to have a talk." The blonde woman's gaze turned to her ally before continuing, "all three of us."

* * *

Six had tuned out of the conversation for a good while now. The woman he had come to know as Glynda Goodwitch was currently ranting and had been ranting for the past fifteen minutes straight.

The irritating woman kept switching from chastising the young girl next to him to chastising the unlicensed Huntsman. The Courier had, of course, corrected her that he was a private contractor but she hadn't taken it well. Since then, he hadn't spoken.

After that little debacle at the Dust shop, the Huntress had taken them to some dark interrogation room and seated them. This was both good and bad.

Bad because he didn't like being chastised or in an interrogation room. Likewise, the plan had gone south when the girl sitting next to him—Ruby—decided to intervene. Things were getting complicated.

However, it was good because he was still talking to the right people and things were still technically going according to plan.

Six was brought back to reality as Glynda slapped her riding crop on the table. Was the woman still ranting? Ruby had done a public service by protecting that shop. This lady needed to calm down.

"But there's someone here who would like to meet you." Glynda's words were punctuated by her stepping out of the way and a man with greyish-white hair stepped into the room.

This was the mysterious man himself, Ozpin. He had seen pictures of him in the reports. Joshua's eyes narrowed for a moment as he crossed his arms. All he had to do was play the rugged PMC personality up.

"Ruby Rose," the man said as he set a plate of cookies down. Ozpin leaned in before staring at Ruby and continuing, "you have… Silver eyes…"

"U-Uhm," the girl responded, obviously weirded out.

Six did not like where this was going. Despite wanting to lay low he couldn't help but lean forward and place a hand on the table in front of the young girl.

"Keep your distance," Six warned as he stared the headmaster down.

Ozpin leaned back, seemingly not caring about the threat. "So, where did you both learn to do this?"

A video of Six and Ruby was playing on a Scroll showing off their more skillful parts in the fight.

The girl responded by saying the name of some academy which seemed to direct the attention off him. That was fine with Six who leaned back in his chair.

The Huntsman and Huntress seemed skeptical at Ruby's claim and in turn the girl seemed to be eating the nervousness away. Six was impressed by the sheer number of cookies that Ruby could fit into her mouth at once.

Ruby went on to explain that she had been taught by her uncle before making some typical ninja moves. Six supposed children would be children.

He zoned out again, seemingly bored as they questioned her. Basic questions about her family and where she trained. Ruby was a nice enough girl but not what he was focusing on.

Six was double-checking his alibi and story over and over in his head. Waiting for them to turn their attention to him.

Though he did tune in as the girl went wild and said, "-she's trying to become a Huntress and I'm trying to become a Huntress because I wanna help people. My parents always taught us to helpotherssoIthoughtImightaswellmakeacareeroutofit-" And it was time to not try to decipher that nonsense as the girl shifted into overdrive.

It was obvious the girl was excited.

Ozpin seemed to have a calculated and knowing look on his face as he responded, "do you know who I am?"

"You're professor Ozpin, you're the headmaster at Beacon." Her response surprised Six. From her attitude, Joshua thought Ruby had no clue.

"Hello," Ozpin replied with a soft chuckle.

Ruby's incessant smile widened as she said, "nice to meet you."

The soft look on Ozpin's face remained but he leaned and spoke with a more serious tone. "You want to come to my school?"

"More than anything," she said with such sincerity that caused Six to look at her. The girl was really adamant about this.

The headmaster turned to Goodwitch and seemed to give her a look. In turn, the Huntress rolled her eyes which caused Ozpin to smirk.

"Well okay," he said while turning back to Ruby.

There was a pause in the conversation as Ruby practically exploded and began blabbering to herself in excitement. Weren't Beacon applicants supposed to be seventeen or older? He doubted this girl was over sixteen at most.

"As for you," Ozpin said as he turned to Six. "Ulysses House. Your file states you're from Rinewood, a small town that was destroyed by Grimm."

Six had to make this look good. He tightened the grip on his arm, making it seem as if he was uncomfortable.

"I am," Six responded through gritted teeth.

Ozpin glanced down at a scroll in his hand as he read off, "you have engaged Grimm and other combatants multiple times throughout your career as a PMC for anyone who would hire you. Atlas, third parties, even Vale at certain points."

The headmaster's eyes glanced from the scroll to Six as he continued, "and all while still so young. You're twenty-two correct?"

So, Cinder and her associates had figured out his relative age. He wondered how. Though he was actually younger by a year or two.

"That's correct," Joshua lied as Ruby glanced at him.

The grey-haired man tapped his finger on the table. "And you've already got an application in… Tell me, why did you decide to look into working at Beacon?"

"It's relatively safe, it pays well, and I have the qualifications for it." Joshua's response came without hesitation. Short and straight to the point.

"Some of our students can be… Troublesome to handle. As security, you'll have to handle these students you understand?" Ozpin's question was two-sided. He really meant handle it without hurting the students.

Again, Six answered without hesitation, "yes, the students at Beacon may be gifted but I have my ways."

There were a few long moments of silence as Ozpin deliberated.

"Welcome aboard Mister House. We'll double-check your credentials but if it all checks out, you'll start as security tomorrow."

Six's eyes widened causing Ozpin to chuckle. "What, the description did say we needed help urgently. Your first official task will be to escort Ruby to Beacon and to sit in on the orientation. We'll give you all you need to get in and fully brief you after orientation."

He was going to have to look over some young girl on his first day? Six glanced towards Ruby who gave him the largest smile he had ever seen.

Son of a bitch.

* * *

Author's Note:

I've done a bit of research and managed to finish this chapter. This is the official end of the second arc of this story. We're about to go into arc three, "Friends and Foes Blurred."

Unfortunately, there will be a hiatus as I read up on some of the extra material and get stuff figured out for the next arc. I hope you're all as excited as I am to be getting to where the show actually starts!

I'll probably upload again within the month most likely. Meaning April 6th is the deadline I have for myself but the next chapter may come sooner.

* * *

Current Gear:

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear

Modified Stealth Suit Mk. II

Mysterious Magnum

Rebreather

 **Maria**

Survivalist Rifle

Modified Anti-Material Rifle.

YCS/186 Gauss Rifle variant.

C4 – Plastic explosives (4)

Detonator.

Frag Grenades (4)

Frag Mines (0)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades (10)


	18. Chapter 17: First Day

Author's Note:

Well, I've got some reading done. Most of what I read isn't technically officially canon as I believe only the show itself is canon and none of the outside material is. That being said, I wanted some references for what could be introduced during this arc.

This also being said, feel free to comment on stuff you'd like to see or think would be possibly interesting to add. If I think it has merit and could fit into the story, I may include it.

For those curious, I read the "Official Manga Anthology" or at least the first four volumes of it.

" _Text_ "

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

 _Chapter 17: First Day_

* * *

And here he was, Courier Six, looking after a child. Said courier sighed as his charge exited the vehicle.

He had spent the night in a hotel and she went back to her Signal academy dorms. The Courier thought it was unreasonable to put her in a situation where she had to gather what her belongings in one night. Six had done it before and it was never fun to leave items you can't feasibly bring.

Still, the fancy limo-like vehicle that had picked him up was nice. Then it moved to pick up Ruby before dropping them off to be picked up by the transport to Beacon. Overall, a costly if effective process.

The ride there had been relatively quiet as it was obvious that Ruby was a little bit intimidated by him in his current armor.

The Courier had been issued a Beacon security uniform. It was grey bordering on white with teal accents. A Beacon Academy badge was splayed across his heart and it looked very official. Something Six wasn't used to. The only thing that would actually offer protection was the arm and leg armor. It was heavily padded with some material that resembled plastic to the touch but was probably harder to dent. It even came with gloves.

However, this left his entire midsection and head exposed which wasn't okay for Six who set about changing that.

The police vest of the Burned Man now covered his midsection. It would have to be painted to match his uniform but for now, it didn't stand too far out with the near-white outfit.

The last piece he added to it was the helmet he used with his modified stealth suit. The Mk. II Stealth Suit was already a work of art. But after the Courier had gotten to it, well he considered it as close to perfection as such a thing could get.

The suit featured state-of-the-art nutritional supplements, meaning that it would automatically inject nutrients into the bloodstream which cut out the need for food. Its Sink Personality module was made to link right into the wearer's eardrum which made her speech noiseless except to the user.

And finally, he took a helmet from a Sierra Madre security set before modifying it and syncing it with the suit and its personality. It featured in-built gages and even a radar that could pick up nearby movement. Useless for him thanks to his in-built compass but it coupled nicely with the infra-red mode and night vision module.

The last addition to the helmet was thanks to the Sink's personality itself. The Sink personalities were what he would consider "dumb" AI. They didn't truly have their own consciousness but could be given tasks to perform on their own and mimicked human behavior. This meant the personality could scan what his helmet saw thanks to the small camera on it. It could scan faces, the environment, and even test for foreign substances in the air.

This was by far the most advanced armor that he had. Maybe not as durable as power armor or versatile as his riot armor but it was great for stealth.

And he had placed that helmet on his head to provide total protection in his new uniform. It was a security helmet anyways so it somewhat fit the uniform. The color was off but that could be solved later.

Unfortunately, since it was separated from the suit, it couldn't provide the Sink personality functions but it was still an advanced helmet with radar and night vision.

His thoughts were interrupted as the transport landed on a platform above him and his charge. Six's head swiveled to Ruby to get a better look at her.

She was currently ahead of him and ascending the stairs towards the transport. She looked a bit nervous but moreover excited now that she was out of the limo.

"Ulysses, you coming," Ruby asked as she turned back to him.

There was a look of annoyance from "Ulysses" as he responded, "call me House. I need to be taken seriously by the students."

There was a look of mild disbelief and humor that came from Ruby but she didn't say anything as she turned away. It was obvious she thought what he said was silly.

Six sped up his climbing of the stairs, soon passing Ruby as he said, "just be glad I don't tell you to call me mister House."

"You know, you aren't nearly as scary as I thought you'd be," the girl replied as she moved past him. The girl had too much energy to be running up the stairs.

Still, the youthful vigor did remind Six of Carmine. He needed to visit her soon. It had been two months or so since he had last seen her.

In fact, as Ruby got to the top of the stairs and ran for the transport, he couldn't help but wonder how long he'd been in this world.

It had been roughly spring when he had gotten in, probably late spring. Then he had spent two months with the Spring family. After that was his two months with Torchwick and his terrorists. So, he'd guess roughly four months and it was going into fall now.

As he stepped on what equated to a flying cruise, Six couldn't help but gaze up at the clear blue sky. It was so much more vibrant than back in the Mojave. It looked more full of life.

In the moment he had been distracted, the ship had taken off and was ascending towards Beacon. His attention turned to Ruby who was currently being embraced by a blonde girl. Wait, what?

"I'm so proud of you," the blonde girl said as she pulled away from the hug. The Courier walked over and spotted Ruby's excited look had disappeared.

It had been replaced by what could be described as embarrassment, horror, and disappointment as the red-themed girl responded, "really sis, it was nothing."

Ah, so they were sisters. It was quite a coincidence that they both happened to be attending this year. Especially since one was obviously older than the other. What were the chances that Ruby would skip a year or two to be placed with her sister?

The blonde one hadn't even noticed him yet and continued to ecstatically exclaim how amazing her younger sister was.

Six's eyes turned to a screen on the side of their transport. It looked like a news channel was on and showed the picture of his employer. That orange-haired conman looked smug even in his mugshots. What a bastard.

Then the broadcast switched over to another news anchor. "In other news, the White Fang protests have grown increasingly violent after the past incident at the Grimdale Park. Some even saying that the SDC is to blame for the violent acts committed that night. The Schnee family has given no comment."

That was interesting. Who was going to take over after Jacques' death?

"In fact, reports say that Weiss Schnee has stepped down from the position and the Whitley Schnee will be taking over SDC… After the untimely passing of their father thanks to the Mi-,"

The woman was cut off as the monitor switched to a new channel. A projection Glynda Goodwitch appeared and began speaking, giving the introduction to Beacon that most students expected. Why wasn't Ozpin doing that?

"Hey, who're you? And why're you following my sister?"

The question brought Six out of his thoughts and back to the two sisters. The blonde one was looking up at him with an accusatory expression.

"Call me House, I'm security for Beacon, and I was told to escort your sister to campus and orientation." Joshua's response was quick and to the point. He wouldn't be intimidated by some girl barely going into what equated to college.

"How did you know she was my sister, huh." Her accusation made Six sigh.

Ruby cut in. "Because he was listening to us talk… And because it's his job… Please don't be mean to him Yang."

The angry look in Yang's eyes immediately dissipated as she turned to ruby. "You know I could never stay mad at you. I just need to make sure you're safe."

But she hadn't been mad at Ruby, she had been irritated with him.

"Well listen here, "House," if you do anything to hurt my sister. You'll answer to me," Yang said as she turned back to Six.

"Right," he responded, not really paying attention. She was a non-threat at the moment. "You realize I serve as security and discipline students who step out of line at Beacon right? That includes disrespect to staff."

A smug look crossed Yang's face as she responded, "good thing we aren't at the academy yet huh?" Oh, she was going to be trouble.

The two turned as they heard Ruby squeal and practically glue herself to the window of the transport.

The trio could finally see Beacon as the ship approached. It was located at the edge of a cliff and looked like something straight out of science fiction novel. Massive towers, huge campus grounds, and the top of it was practically glowing for some reason. It looked pretty at least.

And the view was ruined as a student behind him puked; not a strong stomach apparently. Motion sickness was not a problem for Joshua due to his modifications.

* * *

As it turned out, the kid puking did turn into Six's problem. Some kid named Jaune had puked right on Yang's boots. And since Yang was Ruby's sister, he had to deal with it.

Well, more accurately he had to call over a worker to clean up the mess. It wasn't much of a hassle but he was supposed to be maintaining a low profile while he was here. This was not low profile.

Still, as the newfound trio stepped off the shuttle and onto campus grounds, even Six took in the view. There was nothing quite this beautiful in his own world. And he even figured out that the light he saw before was coming from the top of the tallest tower.

Then Ruby pulled him out of the view as she began drooling over every weapon that passed her. It appeared that the girl was a gun fanatic. While he admitted that the weapons were artistically gifted and probably effective, simple designs often worked best for the most efficient gun. When it came to weapons, Six was of the utilitarian mindset.

Then the younger sister talked about her gun. They named their guns huh? Ruby described how she liked Crescent Rose—her scythe—but that she "liked seeing new ones." Six wasn't one to name his guns. The only named guns he had were named by other people.

"What about your gun House?" Ruby's question was now directed at him.

In response, the Courier pulled out the weapon he had used during the fight with Torchwick's goons.

"This is Maria," he replied holding it up. It had a lot of intricate grooves and designs which he hoped would help him fit in with the Beacon crowd since they all had over the top weapons.

Ruby looked it over before commenting, "does it transform?"

"Nope, it shoots Grimm," Joshua replied as he stepped past them.

"Oh, come on, what kind of Huntsman doesn't have a weapon that transforms?" Six turned back to shoot the blonde a look for her words.

"I think it looks nice," Ruby interjected, doing her best to compliment the gold and silver gun.

The Courier, in turn, looked down at it and frowned under his helmet. Memories of being shot in the face by Benny surfaced and were quickly crushed as he holstered the weapon.

Six lost himself in thought… He could still remember what Benny had said to him that night. "This must all seem like a string of bad luck to you, truth is… Game was rigged from the start." This incurred memories of Logarius and a ping of guilt he had to suppress.

Six didn't see what happened next as both the girls were behind him and he was deep in thought. But one moment Yang was there, and the next she was with a group of people and running away at a pace he didn't think was possible.

He turned back to notice that Ruby had fallen into the luggage of another student. Quite a bit of luggage at tha-

He could feel his heart rate pick up as he recognized that white hair.

"What do you think you're doing," asked an irritated Weiss Schnee as Ruby sat up.

The red-clad girl gave a sheepish look before replying, "sorry."

Joshua had killed this girl's father.

"Do you have any idea of the damage you could've caused. You idiot!" Weiss was irritated and even bordering on upset at this point.

Ruby went to pick up one of the containers before it was yanked out of her hand by the Schnee. "This is Schnee Dust, what are you braindead?"

He had killed her father right in front of her…

Weiss began explaining the properties of Dust as she waved a vial about from the container she was holding.

Six was going to have to look after the daughter of the man he killed.

The Courier clenched his fist together as he came back to reality. He needed to keep his focus and not lose his cool this soon. This was always a possibility; he was just going to have to deal with it.

And then Ruby sneezed.

The resulting explosion somehow only managed to hit the Schnee Heiress and thanks to her Aura she was unharmed. Unphased even.

"Unbelievable! How did a failure like you ever get into Beacon?!" It was obvious that while she was irritated, Weiss's sheer anger was coming from a different place. Well, this was awkward.

"I said I was sorry, Princess," Ruby said now getting a little indignant herself.

"You think I care about that!" Weiss shouted back before seemingly realizing she was losing control. The Schnee seemed to stop and slowly compose herself as a new face skulked over.

"It's Heiress actually," said a girl with black hair, a bow on her head, and… And… Was that Blake?

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. Thank God for the helmet otherwise they would've seen his look of complete panic that crossed his face for a moment.

"Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy and propellant in the world." Blake's words only confirmed to Six that he needed to leave this conversation now.

Luckily, he was able to take a few steps back as the attention seemed to be on Weiss. The girl was currently sulking as she looked down at the ground.

"Former Heiress," Weiss muttered before grabbing what looked like the vial from earlier from Blake's hand and turning away. The Schnee walked off with attitude in her step as she seemed absolutely livid. Was she just going to leave her luggage here?

"I'll make it up to you," Ruby called out as Weiss stomped off. Then the girl seemed to deflate at her failure to make a friend.

Six even managed to spot Blake already leaving the area, practically disappearing into the quickly shrinking crowd around them.

When Ruby turned to talk to Blake, all she found was air. Dejectedly, the girl turned to him with tears practically in her eyes.

"I can't make any friends Ulysses, and Yang left me all alone, and, and," she said in a tone that bordered on crying out her words.

It was then that yet another new arrival greeted Ruby. "I'm Jaune," the blonde boy greeted while extending a hand forward and Six instantly recognized him.

"Ruby. Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?" Ruby the always tactful. Six could only wonder why she wasn't making friends.

The two began walking off an all Ulysses could do was sigh. He quickly placed Weiss's luggage on her carrier before pushing it after the two teens.

* * *

Joshua was getting more suspicious of the boy as they walked on. Not only was he clumsy but he wasn't Huntsman material either from the way he handled that sword. And neither of them were keeping track of time. Ruby was a bit more excusable because he might as well call her a child. Jaune should be on top of it.

Through the two's conversation, that Six did not totally and creepily listen in on as he trailed behind them, he learned a few things. One, Jaune was a bumbling buffoon. Two, Jaune had hand-me-down weapons. Three, he knew next to nothing about being a Huntsman or even interacting with other people.

How the hell did he get into Beacon?

"Wait, I was following you," Jaune said to Ruby before turning back and continuing, "and he was following us for some reason."

"Oh, that's Uly-House, he likes House. He's new here too." Ruby's words did little to actually explain why Six was following her.

Which Jaune made abundantly clear as he asked, "he's a student?"

"No, no, he's part of the faculty here. He's supposed to make sure I don't get into trouble until orientation." After she spoke Ruby turned back to look at him. A few seconds later and she turned back to Jaune. "He doesn't talk much."

There was an awkward silence that descended over the trio as both Jaune and Ruby tried not to annoy him and failed.

The Courier sighed before saying, "you're both going to be late at this rate." Six had spent a good chunk of time before the operation memorizing the public maps. "Follow me."

Both the kids looked at him like he was a godsend as he stepped in front of them and led them towards the auditorium while pushing the luggage. Was it hypocritical to call them children when he was barely in his twenties?

* * *

And his task was finally over. Six let out a small sigh of relief as he stepped into the auditorium. There were a lot of students here but luckily they had made it on time.

As soon as they entered, Ruby spotted her sister, turning and saying, "oh, hey, I gotta go. I'll see you after the ceremony."

The girl darted off much to Jaune's dismay who turned to Six. "Great, where am I supposed to find another nice quirky girl to talk to?"

"Why are you asking me? Go hang out with some other students or something." Joshua wasn't here to babysit Jaune now that he was rid of Ruby.

"Fine," Jaune replied as he turned away and grumbled to himself. The kid stomped off irritated.

Well, that gave Six room to look for Weiss. It also gave him some much needed quiet time.

Now that he thought about it, that explosion Ruby caused earlier, was that technically under his list of things to take care of? Ah, whatever. He didn't get his job details until after orientation anyways.

It took a bit for everyone to enter the large room. But once everyone was inside, Ozpin approached the microphone on stage.

"I'll make this brief," Ozpin began and Six immediately tuned it out. This was addressed to the students, not him. As long as he caught the important bits, he was fine.

Ozpin's speech started off relatively normal. Knowledge, honing skills, learning, all the basics. Then it took a sharp dive into negative as he told them that knowledge alone wasn't enough.

Well, that didn't bother Six. He had already been taught knowledge needed drive and ambition to be made useful. Speaking of…

The Courier pulled up his Pip-Boy before using the holographic screen he had installed to type out a message to his contacts.

" _I'm inside, sitting through orientation. Will await further instructions._ "

By the time he looked back up, Ozpin was gone. In his place, Glynda was giving information. Students would be sleeping in some big room and would have orientation tomorrow.

His Pip-Boy buzzed as he looked down. He had received a message from the woman who was currently walking off stage. How had she done that without pulling out her Scroll?

" _There's an employee conference room on the second floor, west wing, room 268._ "

And he assumed that meant he was supposed to be there. He had one thing to do first.

The Courier watched kids start leaving orientation and waited for the inevitable white hair to enter his vision. Soon enough, the former Heiress was heading for the door.

The new security guard walked forward at a brisk pace to catch up to her.

"Ma'am," he said in his best official voice as he strode up behind her. "You left this outside."

The girl turned around with a surprised expression on her face. "O-Oh, right, thank you," she said while taking hold of the carrier.

"No problem ma'am," Six replied before immediately turning and walking away. Part of him wanted to look after her for what he did to her father but another part screamed to run away. He'd follow the latter for now.

* * *

Room 268. It didn't officially exist. Joshua didn't know if it was a test of some kind or if the faculty here loved playing games. When he had walked down the hall, he had done a double-take.

Room 266, room 267, room 269. Yeah, the room just wasn't there. So, Six had flipped on his compass markers and quickly found that there were people nearby. In-between rooms 267 and 269 was a plain wall and on the other side were people.

After a few long moments of hesitation, Six knocked on the wall. The wall, in turn, seemed to slide away. Of course, secret doors.

On the other side were two individuals only one of which he recognized. Glynda and an unknown woman.

Both women had the same relative build; that being a slender figure and sharp face. But while Glynda's hair was obviously blonde, this new woman had hair that was bordering on white with her skin matching her hair. Professional looking sunglasses covered her eyes and her arms were crossed over a uniform that looked identical to his minus the vest and helmet.

His eyes wandered down to the badge on her uniform. Six had a similar one over his heart but hers had a more intricate design to it.

The most peculiar sight was on the woman's head. Two grey dog-like ears twitched as he stared at them. So, she was a Faunus.

Glynda spoke first, "mister House, may I introduce miss Friede Huey, head of the security division here at Beacon. She will be your direct superior for your duration working here."

House's eyes wandered from Glynda to miss Huey as he spoke, "nice to meet you."

There was a slight frown on his superior's face and she spoke in a quiet almost imperceptible volume. "I find it disconcerting to work with someone whose face I've never seen."

Luckily for Six, he had far superior hearing to regular humans.

"Well, it's not really something I'm willing to budge on." His response didn't seem to please his new boss so Joshua removed his helmet to expose the bandages underneath. It wasn't exactly convenient to wear bandages under his helmet but Six refused to reveal his face.

There were a few moments of staring between the two in the rather dim room before his boss tilted her head to the side.

"I didn't know you were a Faunus." Her words caused the Courier's anxiety to spike. Why would she say that?

Glynda seemed as surprised as he was. The professor flipped through the notes on her scroll as she said, "none of his files indicate that."

A frown formed underneath House's bandages as he responded, "I don't really make it public. It's bad for business."

His hands moved up to his head and quickly placed the helmet back on. It made him feel more in control of the situation.

"It was the eyes," Friede began as she uncrossed her arms; seemingly relaxing. "They glow in the dark like a Faunus'."

That was good to note for future reference. At least he had an excuse for his abnormal eyes. Now that he thought about it, Carmine had said something similar in Rhyt.

"Moving on." As she spoke, his new boss pulled out her own scroll. "I'll be sending a file to your scroll…" She paused to take a look at his wrist. "Or whatever it is. It has important information on it—like your schedule—so read it over."

Friede took a breath in before continuing, "you'll be serving as general security for the campus. This includes hall monitor duties. You'll make sure that no suspicious persons access the premises and stop all violent behavior. Your file indicates you're capable of this."

There was a pause from her as she seemed to open a new page and read it for a moment.

"Likewise, any violent behavior or untoward interactions between the students will be handled by you as well. As this is a Huntsman Academy, your current firearm will suffice."

Six looked down at his Pip-Boy and opened the file she had just sent to him. It contained plenty of specific information such as dress code and violations of duty.

"In the attached file is the information about your living quarters on campus. It's located near the other staff rooms. You'll set up a passcode for your room when you get there." Her words seemed almost completely monotone; like she had done this a million times and was bored.

She scrolled to a new page again before continuing, "finally, if there is an emergency or special case, you will be called upon to act as guidance for the students. These are your official roles here. Any details I've left out are in the document. Any questions?"

"Yeah, when do I get started and when do I get paid?" Six's question was both genuine and a disguise. He was genuinely curious as they hadn't actually said what his pay was but it also served to reinforce his mercenary persona too.

There was a small chuckle from the doorway behind him. That doorway had never been closed? Did he have to manually close the sliding wall door?

Standing there was Ozpin with the same soft smile as ever and a coffee cup in his hands. "You'll start tomorrow morning at o-nine-hundred. And the pay is generous I assure you, it's in the file miss Huey sent you." The older man's response was a little too smug for Six's taste.

Joshua couldn't quite figure Ozpin out. Maybe because in his own world it wasn't as peaceful. The problem was the guy was either too nice for his own good or an expert manipulator. Six was leaning towards the latter.

At least the Legion were honest enough to stab you in the face. Ozpin reminded Six of the NCR leaders, all honeyed words. Though they weren't trying to be the "kind old man" which added a layer of creepiness to the headmaster in Six's mind.

Hell, even the real House was usually upfront and direct with you though he wasn't one for manners either. If he thought you said something stupid, House would say so.

"Great, what will I be doing tomorrow specifically?" Six got the general idea but he also knew that tomorrow wasn't going to be a regular school day.

The older man took a sip from his coffee before replying, "you'll be watching the students go through their initiation. You won't have to do much except ensure no one interferes. After that, I imagine miss Huey will fill you in on all the details for your first day. My apologies, second day."

The Courier glanced back at said person who looked at him with a neutral expression. She was a hard one to get a read on.

"So, anything else I need to know or am I free to go," Six asked while turning back to Ozpin.

The man in question glanced towards Goodwitch before shrugging. "I imagine you are. Be sure to stay out of trouble and let us know if you need anything to perform your duties."

No reason to stay around here now. Six made his way to the door and stepped through it before stopping.

Ulysses turned his head back before asking, "I get to use all the Huntsman facilities on campus correct?"

The headmaster nodded his head while replying, "of course. Oh, but raw materials will need to be provided by you."

There was a slight nod from the Courier as he thought it over. The equipment in Roman's base was definitely a step above Richter's but it was probably nothing compared to Beacon.

The Courier smiled while replying, "have a good night," and closing the door. He idly watched it slide closed before walking down the hall towards his room. He'd have to sweep it for bugs.

Maybe this was going to be easier than he thought… Still, Adam's words rang in his head. He needed to find out more than what Cinder wanted.

Six needed to know the entire plan. He needed to know exactly what Cinder wanted. That likely started with the headmaster himself if he wanted information.

* * *

Author's Note:

Well, this was sooner than I expected. My goal was April 6th and here we are. I'll likely be slower to upload for this arc as I'll have to constantly be referencing the show to make sure I don't make any canon errors when introducing characters. But you can also be rest assured, Six will most likely change canon as well and affect the very world of Remnant.

Current Gear:

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear

Modified Stealth Suit Mk. II

Beacon Uniform

Mysterious Magnum

Rebreather

Maria

Survivalist Rifle

Modified Anti-Material Rifle.

YCS/186 Gauss Rifle variant.

C4 – Plastic explosives (4)

Detonator.

Frag Grenades (4)

Frag Mines (0)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades (10)


	19. Chapter 18: Trials of Deception

Author's Note:

Well, I've got some reading done. Most of what I read isn't technically officially canon as I believe only the show itself is canon and none of the outside material is. That being said, I wanted some references for what could be introduced during this arc.

This also being said, feel free to comment on stuff you'd like to see or think would be possibly interesting to add. If I think it has merit and could fit into the story, I may include it.

Finally, for my upload schedule. Would you all prefer if I uploaded chapters when I got them done, or would you prefer if I waited and uploaded multiple chapters together?

For those curious, I read the "Official Manga Anthology" or at least the first four volumes of it.

" _Text_ "

"Speech"

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters._

 **Remnants of a Courier**

 _Chapter 18: Trials of Deception_

* * *

His breathing came hard, ragged even. It was so tough to get any air in at all. Where was he?

He opened his eyes but it was dark and his vision was blurry. There was a warm pool of some kind of liquid beneath him and his entire body was numb. Was he bleeding?

Every muscle in his body ached as he rolled over onto his stomach. What had happened? A loud grunt escaped him as he slowly got to his knees. A wave of exhaustion seemed to keep his body rooted to the spot despite his curiosity. Looking down, he knew he must have lost a lot of blood if he couldn't feel the large gash in his side.

His arms and limbs also felt small which was strange. Still, they were enough to slowly get him to his feet despite the constant shaking.

A door was slightly ajar not too far away. The light coming through it revealing the faint outline of his room. Where was mom?

Mom? Why… Who was mom? Who was he?

As he approached the door, he realized that his head barely came up to the door handle. He was small. A loud crash came from the opposite side of the door.

It took a great deal of effort but he was able to turn the door handle and begin pushing the door open. He could hear the sounds of a struggle from the other side of the door. Had the noises just started or had he not heard them before?

The door opened and he was blinded by light.

* * *

The sweat pouring down Six's face was uncomfortable. Not nearly as uncomfortable as waking up panting and afraid.

He slowly sat up before bringing his gaze around the room. It was his room in Beacon Academy. Not particularly large or spacious but it was all his.

It had the necessities one needed; a bed, a bathroom, and some miscellaneous furniture. It even had a small refrigerator for him.

The Courier was currently sitting at his desk. He had fallen asleep at it and had a nightmare. No… Thinking back on it, he could clearly remember the dream. It was definitely a memory and one he didn't want to revisit.

A sigh escaped his lips as he leaned back in the chair; his heart still beating quickly. "Relax," he muttered to himself as he rubbed his temples.

"Don't think about it." Six doubted his own words even as they left his mouth.

The dream was slowly receding but that only left room for other thoughts to occupy his head. How Carmine was doing, the stress of the plan, and Logarius.

He hadn't thought of the now-dead Huntsman in some time. That guy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It still bugged Six.

The former ruler of Vegas pushed aside those thoughts as he stood up. Checking his Pip-Boy, he found that it was about eight-thirty AM. He had enough time to get to the initiation.

The Courier scrambled to the bathroom to prepare. The nozzle of his shower made a squeaking noise as he turned it. He hadn't gotten the temperature right at first but his damaged nerves made it so he didn't mind.

The cold water did little to comfort him from the sudden memory of Whitley's face as he watched his father die. Why couldn't he get his mind off the past?

Six shook his head to clear his thoughts before thinking back on how he had scrubbed his room while the water heated up. It was fairly nice of Ozpin that he had only left one audio recording device in his room. House had blatant cameras all over the Lucky 38 that constantly monitored you.

There wasn't much time for reflecting on current events though, he had places to be. Six quickly showered before stepping out and getting dressed in his uniform.

As he left the bathroom, his gaze shifted to the pristine white flower on his desk. It had been simple to use some of the specialized compounds from the Big Empty to keep the flower alive these past few months.

The Courier's hand gently picked up the white chrysanthemum that Carmine had given him. It brought a little comfort to him despite his terrible morning.

The former ruler of Vegas pinned it to the vest of the Burned Man. It was a bit unprofessional but considering the outfits the students and staff were allowed to wear… Well, Six didn't expect it to be a problem.

Joshua took a step out of his front door before closing and locking it. It was time to get to work.

* * *

Things were tough for Weiss, well, they had been tough for a while.

After the death of her father, she had felt momentary relief. She had Freedom from his abuse. That turned to disgust with herself at the fact she was happy with her father's death.

Then everything that came after was a nightmare. The reporters, the greedy opportunists that sought her family's fortune. The things she had discovered about what her father had been doing to his lower-end workers…

It had been too much. Weiss thought of herself as resilient and resourceful but that was enough to break anyone. So, she left.

The former Heiress couldn't stand the idea of inheriting her father's corrupt legacy. She longed to be more like her sister, free and independent. Weiss was doing everything in her power to alienate herself from her father.

Beacon was the obvious choice. It would get her away from all of it. Let her be better than her father ever was.

Still… As she closed her locker, Weiss couldn't help but think back on her brother. Whitley had withdrawn into himself and even blamed her for their father's death.

Whitley's words rang in her head. "You got father killed!" Whitley's broken expression and tears added to the hurt tone in his voice as he had shouted that at her. "You and her, and that thing!"

After that, she and the Faunus had brokered a deal. She would disappear and they wouldn't speak of her. It was all she could do for the Faunus that saved their lives. Blake… She wondered why the Faunus was attending this academy.

The Schnee took a long breath to compose herself. She couldn't appear weak now.

The future Huntress figured Whitley was probably going to inherit it all now. He'd probably follow in their father's footsteps too. A part of her wished she was still there to stop it but Weiss had already made her decision.

In a sense, it put everything into perspective for her. As she glanced around the locker room where all the students were getting their gear, in her mind she knew it was pointless to attend this academy. Being like her sister wouldn't change her broken family.

Despite these thoughts, she held herself high. Her pride as a Schnee dictated so. All Weiss could do now was better herself for whatever challenge was to come.

Pyrrha was currently standing by herself and Weiss knew they were going to be assigned to teams today. Pyrrha was without a doubt the strongest fighter in the room, her skill was nearly legendary among the first years. It was now or never.

Just as she was about to speak to her, a familiar Faunus entered the room. The black-haired girl had a bow on her head so others couldn't tell that she was one. But she had been the one on the train. The one she had been unable to face yesterday.

Weiss's body froze as Blake spotted her. Any confidence the white-themed girl had quickly crumbled as she turned her head away.

She could feel her hands shaking. There was a mixture of fear and anger that was swirling inside her along with a small sense of gratitude. That last feeling was why she hadn't said anything about the Faunus.

After all, the only reason Weiss or her brother were alive was thanks to her. Though she had helped the perpetrators get on the train in the first place. The former Heiress never expected to meet Blake here of all places.

Her indignant anger at Faunus and the White Fang in general also told her to yell at Blake and expose her. But as the Faunus approached her, that feeling of fear overrode her anger.

"Y-Yes," Weiss asked while trying to maintain her composure despite her shaking knees.

The Faunus looked at her with an imperceptible look. Was she here to finish the job?

Weiss's entire body flinched as Blake reached out to her. The shaken girl had her arm in front of her and her free hand on her weapon.

That cold look seemed to melt on Blake's face as she spoke, "I'm sorry." That's all the Faunus said before turning away and heading to a locker.

Looking around, Weiss noticed she had attracted the looks from some of the other initiates. The eyes on her and her shot nerves kept her shaking.

That was until a certain blonde stumbled into the strongest fighter in the room and drew the attention of everyone in the locker room. It was time to take her leave.

* * *

Joshua stood next to the Headmaster of Beacon. On the other side of Ozpin stood Goodwitch and next to all of them was a cliff.

Six had not been informed on what the trials held for the future students of Beacon but the fact they were at the top of a cliff couldn't be good.

There were several small square platforms in front of the trio and Six knew that they weren't decorative.

"I haven't been briefed on what these tests entail," the Courier stated in a curious tone as his gaze turned to Ozpin.

"No, I don't believe you have. Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough." The tone the Headmaster took only served to irritate Six. He was quickly finding out that Ozpin had a "playful" side. He'd call it sadistic but Ozpin was still his boss.

The older man had a mug of coffee like he was going to his cozy desk job. It all pressed every button the Courier had in his body.

"They will be assigned to partners and teams today as well as determine their team leaders." Goodwitch's rundown of the situation, while true, didn't give Joshua the info he needed.

"Yes, but how are you testing them," Six asked while clenching a single fist.

Not looking up from the tablet she was using, Glynda responded, "we'll be sending them into the Emerald forest. There are Grimm within and they'll have to navigate their way through the forest to their objective."

There were a lot of details that the blonde administrator wasn't telling him but he got the gist of it.

"And if the students get in life-threatening danger?" Six had a feeling he already knew the answer to his question.

"If they cannot protect themselves, then they die." Ozpin's words simply confirmed what Six already knew. This academy was run by sociopaths.

"As far as they are aware," the Headmaster continued before taking a sip from his drink. Once he lowered the cup, Ozpin continued, "we'll be monitoring them of course. If it does look like they'll die, we'll have a teacher or yourself step in."

Oh, that was far more logical than the Courier expected. As long as they weren't truly in danger of dying, then the test was fine with him.

Before he could get another question out, the students began arriving. The initiates gathered in front of the three faculty before being instructed to step on a pad.

Once the students were all assembled on the platforms in front of them, Ozpin began speaking, "for years, you have trained to become warriors. And today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald forest."

That was a fairly standard introduction to the task in Six's opinion. He quickly began only partially paying attention as he looked the students over.

There were several of them he recognized and many he didn't. Ruby, Yang, Blake, and Weiss were all here. His gaze lingered on the last two for a moment before he shifted his gaze. Best not to give the students any ideas.

Six's view finally settled on Jaune. The poor fool. His shield did little to hide the nervous shifting he was doing.

The Courier was snapped out of his musings as Ozpin said, "that being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

But why? This was the first question that ran through Joshua's mind as he glanced at the headmaster out of the corner of his eye.

Was it to encourage cooperation even if your partner isn't compatible? To learn professionalism? What was Ozpin's reasoning? Personally, Six figured the old man's sadistic streak was kicking in.

Not to mention that the Headmaster said: "after landing." That was concerning in and of itself. It was lucky that these students had a practical shield and superpowers to keep them safe or he'd be worried.

Six tuned in for the rest of the conversation. Noting they were being graded and that Ozpin lied when he said the instructors wouldn't intervene. And especially the "relics" they needed to grab.

Jaune began speaking when the Headmaster finished. Seemingly having a question even as the other students near him were being launched. Did he not notice? How?

Joshua watched as, one by one, the students shot into the air a couple of miles off the ground before plummeting towards the tree line below.

"-ou will be using your own landing strategy," Ozpin replied as the Courier turned back to the conversation.

There was a scared and confused look on Jaune's face as he said, "a-huh. Yeah… So what exactly is a landing strate-" The poor kid didn't get to finish his sentence as he began screaming as he was flung into the sky.

The Courier could still hear him as he sailed through the air like a not-so majestic walrus. That kid really had a pair of lungs on him.

"So, you know there's no way that blonde kid actually made it here legally right?" Six questioned as the Headmaster watched the students while taking another sip. A small smirk splayed across his lips.

"I'm serious, he made it in and is now going to die," Joshua continued as he watched said blonde boy plummet with no plan towards the ground.

There were a few moments where the Courier truly thought he was about to watch a teenager die. Which turned to absolute horror as he saw a red spear fly out of the trees and towards the kid.

Only to be completely baffled as the spear ended up saving the boy by pinning his clothing to a tree and stopping his fall. Six's view shifted towards the source which turned out to be a red-haired student. That was impressive and theoretically impossible by every law of physics. That kid's shirt should have simply torn.

"Did you really think so lowly of me," Ozpin whispered while leaning in which caused Joshua to turn towards him. "That I wouldn't notice a potential student coming in with forged documents?" An uncharacteristically serious look had crossed the man's face as he spoke.

There was a moment where Six was unsettled as he thought about his own cover being blown. He really hoped Cinder and Roman had done their homework. Ozpin was more observant than he initially seemed.

"My apologies," Six replied before looking over at Goodwitch. Ozpin had made his point and Six didn't want to continue the conversation and lead it towards his own forged documents.

Ozpin's expression quickly shifted back to his aloof appearance. Did the Headmaster know about him? Was he just fucking with him?

"Miss Goodwitch, could you give my device access to the CCTV network?" Joshua's question caused the instructor to look over at him before raising a brow.

Right, it was probably called something different here. "The camera systems," Six rephrased as he pointed to his Pip-Boy.

"Your scroll information please," Goodwitch responded before looking back down at her device.

Six began tapping away at the scroll functions on his Pip-Boy before turning to her. "I just sent them to you."

Sure, it did show that he could get her scroll information without telling him but he needed to prove he had some actual skillsets. Besides, this was the least he could do if given access to a device on their network.

A few moments later and he received a notification on his Pip-Boy. He quickly downloaded the application that the instructor sent over before accessing the cameras in the forest. It also looked like some cameras were locked. Something he'd have to look into later.

Flipping through the cameras, he spotted Ruby being pulled along by Weiss, a pair made in hell. Pyrrha talking to Jaune, an odd pair. And it looked like Yang was flying into a blind rage for some reason. These were interesting kids.

The next camera revealed Pyrrha and Jaune talking.

"Do you know what an Aura is?" Jaune's words were accusatory and defensive which made Six ponder what Pyrrha said.

"Aura is the manifestation of our soul," Pyrrha responded and Six made sure to listen in.

The experienced initiate explained how Aura was the tool of Huntsman and Huntresses and that it was essentially an extension of themselves. Six had heard this before. But Jaune's words after also piqued his interest.

"What about monsters?"

"No, the monsters we fight lack a soul. They are creatures of Grimm. The manifestation of anonymity. They are the darkness and we are the light."

Pyrrha's words brought a frown to the man using Ulysses' name. Did he lack a soul? And if he did, why? Was it because of where he came from? Did no one have a soul there? Or was it him?

Was it because of his physical changes? He lacked many of the organs that some would say contain the soul or the self. Perhaps he had been through too much and simply lost it? Maybe he was just born without one?

All these existential questions couldn't be answered now so Six figured it was best to put them aside.

"If you knew that Jaune's eligibility was forged, then why did you let him in," Joshua whispered to Ozpin while still looking at the screen. He wasn't sure why the Headmaster whispered about Jaune but he could play along.

Pyrrha began unlocking Jaune's aura and it seemed rather personal. Since it wasn't important for him to know about their secrets, Joshua decided to switch cameras.

"You have a lot of it," Pyrrha commented right before he changed the view. Six would note the possible potential Jaune had for later.

"Because I saw potential," Ozpin replied as the screen changed to show a boy in green surrounded by two large dead Grimm. "Don't you?" Him taking down those creatures by himself was a good show of skill.

The Courier turned away from the screen and to the Headmaster before responding, "he does have quite a bit of excess Aura."

A light chuckle came from the professor before he said, "that's not what I meant." The Headmaster took another sip out of his mug indicating he was done speaking.

Six got the feeling this wasn't just a test for the students anymore as he turned back to the screen.

* * *

The next thirty or so minutes went by in a blur. A few students deftly handled the Grimm while others got lost or made their way to the relics.

The three had sat in relative silence only speaking to give brief mandatory updates to Ozpin. Six did note that the Headmaster was either very patient or perceptive. The man didn't have a way to view the students yet he gazed out over the tree line like he did.

Then Goodwitch began speaking again. Giving the last update on the current partner pairings for the students. Making comments on who fit together and who didn't. Ozpin, in turn, seemed to be humming in response. Six couldn't tell if the man was smug, disinterested, or both.

The instructor handed her scroll over to the Headmaster before walking away. She only got a few feet before turning around and asking, "speaking of which, what did you use as relics this year?"

Silence was her reply as the Headmaster appeared engrossed with the screen now. The man could lose himself in his work.

Six did his best to read the man's expression. Only managing to get that the Headmaster was worried about something.

Glynda said something but even Six had tuned her out at this point. She may be good at running things around here but she wasn't good at reading people.

"Stressed about your students," House asked while looking down at the scroll.

The current camera showed Ruby and Weiss lost in the woods and verbally jousting like there was no tomorrow. They all had potential but it was a matter of how to best foster that potential that was the hard part.

There was a moment of silence before Ozpin replied, "I do not doubt they will eventually come together. It is always hard at first to work as a pair and a team. Still, you can't fault me for being at least a little worried."

The Courier shrugged in response before saying, "some will fail, some will succeed. You can't control everything they do."

"Yes, but we can try to give them the best opportunity to grow, that is what we do here." The Headmaster's words seemed more to soothe himself than explain to Six.

"If you're worried about those two specifically," Joshua began as he switched his Pip-Boy over to the monitor that was viewing the two initiates. "We could keep an eye on them. Maybe give them a special assignment that includes them working together as a team."

"Oh, did you have an idea for that?" The Headmaster's head had finally turned towards him with a curious expression and a soft smile.

Six idly tapped the now holographic screen of his Pip-Boy as he replied, "have them spar against a teacher. Hell, have all the students spar against a teacher if they need it. They can help them work together and give them some one-on-one time they need to bond; and combat lessons of course."

A hum escaped the Headmaster as he turned back to his scroll. "Alright."

That—quickly becoming familiar—mischievous smirk returned to Ozpin's face as he continued, "then that will be your first task after you're acquainted with the school itself."

"Hold on now," Six began as he turned to the Headmaster. "I'm not su-"

"Come now, you're perfectly capable of handling a few students. And you said yourself, they need time to bond and learn."

While Ozpin was right, it still pissed Six off. "Yeah but that's not in my job description," he replied as his screen showed Blake and Yang grabbing the white knight relic.

"We'll pay you for overtime of course," the Headmaster responded, his smirk growing just a bit wider. This man was insufferable.

Joshua let out a sigh. "Fine. But let it be known I didn't want to do this." Six was worried that his little "Aura" problem was going to be found out but as long as he played it safe.

"Of course," Ozpin replied before humming to himself. "Glynda, could you start writing the paperwork for this?"

"I don't think this is a good idea. He's not licensed and you still haven't signed any of the new proposals on your desk." Glynda's response caused the Headmaster's grin to fade.

"Right, paperwork, I think I'll get to it after this and write up a formal proposal for our friend here."

Before Glynda could respond to the Headmaster's words, a feminine scream rang out through both his Pip-Boy and Ozpin's scroll.

It looked like Pyrrha was being chased by a large scorpion-like Grimm and on its stinger was…

"Ah! Pyrrha, it's not the relic! It's not the relic!" Jaune's words made Six realize that the clearly feminine scream had come from him. That kid really had a pair of lungs on him.

A slight snicker escaped Six who in turn caught the grin on Ozpin's face.

"They're quite the pair," Ozpin commented as Jaune was flung into the distance again by a flick of the Grimm's tale.

A soft chuckle escaped Six before he replied, "you can say that again. Poor kid. It's not his finest day."

The screen switched again and it looked like Ruby, Nora, Ren, and Jaune had all managed to make it to the relics. With Jaune having been flung into a tree near the relics. Lucky kid.

"Which pieces do you think the students will take?" The Headmaster's question stirred Six from the absolute insanity of Pyrrha then running towards the relics with the Grimm in tow.

Wait.

"Is that a Nevermore?" Ozpin's surprise mimicked his own as Weiss flew over the relics and barely hung on to a Nevermore.

"That… That looks bad. Are you sure you don't want to help them?" Six's question caused the Headmaster to frown slightly but he didn't respond. It looked like most of the more skilled students—minus Jaune—were there at least.

"I would prefer if you made your way over there and waited on standby. We need to see if they can handle adversity but not risk their lives."

Ozpin's answer satisfied Six who had already moved onto one of the platforms. His enhanced body would protect him, though if he messed this up…

Goodwitch didn't waste any time and immediately activated the launch pad, sending Joshua soaring.

It was almost calming flying through the air. Almost… Time seemed to slow for the Courier as he activated his V.A.T.S. which gave him a view of Ozpin and Glynda. He needed a little time to think. He didn't have the equipment needed to negate falling to his death. His enhancements would help. He just needed a strategy and…

He took a calming breath in, deactivating V.A.T.S. before materializing several Chems and immediately taking them. Just enough to give his body a boost to keep him alive. Besides, he was almost entirely resistant to addiction now anyways.

Now it was time to take out his knife and look for the largest tree. Once found, he attempted to orientate himself midair for the tree next to it.

Knife, legs first, and…

The knife did only a little to slow his descent as his reinforced arm was nearly pulled out of its socket. Still, it dug into the tree and carved it like a turkey.

He was then flung to the next tree where he landed feet first. The impact was hard but not as bad as solid ground as it gave and the top half of the tree broke and toppled over.

The Courier's descent had been significantly slowed but his legs ached and he was still falling.

A loud crash rang throughout the forest as the broken top half of the tree slammed against the ground with Six on top of it. His legs and arms ached but he didn't have time to sit and be tired. He had to give the image that his Aura had protected him.

His visor was pointed towards one of the sturdier branches of the large tree right at the top. That was his goal. Not only would it provide a vantage point but it would take him away from the cameras he had seen.

Joshua placed the knife into one of his pockets before dematerializing it. It was a rather awkward fit but it would hide his abilities for now.

Flexing his fingers, the Courier walked up to the tree before bringing his hand down on its trunk with force. His grip strength was more than enough for his fingers to dig past the bark and into the tree. He repeated this with his other hand before manually climbing up the tree; leaving a series of small holes below him.

Once on the branch, the real work began. He materialized his anti-material rifle. This tree was old and large enough he could lay down on its massive branch.

This was going to be one of the biggest tests of his accuracy to date if-

"House come in, over." That was Ozpin's voice from his Pip-Boy.

"I'm here boss, over," Six replied as he set up his rifle and aimed down the scope. Even with his enhanced vision and superior scope, they were absurdly far away for a shot.

Six with his custom anti-material rifle was accurate at roughly two miles. The furthest shot he had made yet ranged at around two and a half miles and he wasn't confident he could make that consistently. Even with his near-superhuman vision, he wasn't sure he could make this. At roughly three miles it was nearing the point where the earth would curve and block a person's vision.

To him, they were tiny specks in the distance. Ozpin didn't know this.

"Give them a slight advantage if you can. I want them to go through this but I'm worried. Make sure they don't know you are helping them, over."

His words didn't comfort Six who now had to come up with some sort of "subtle" plan with an anti-material rifle.

There was a flying speck attacking four tiny specks on some sort of stone building. It was hard to make out the details. Six had an idea but he was going to need some help.

Since Ozpin couldn't see him anyways, he stood from his position before quickly stripping out his uniform and donning his Stealth Suit. The onboard systems and SINK personality meant that it would boost his perception and help him predict movement.

When he laid back down, he popped a Party Time Mentats and some Coyote Tobacco Chew for good measure. It was now or never. Even with his resistance, he couldn't risk any more Chems or he might get addicted.

His breathing steadied as he aimed down the sight, his mind raced with dozens of calculations on the wind, the target's movement, friendly movement, bullet drop, accuracy, and other factors.

Six slowly pulled the trigger…

* * *

Ruby had never been this excited in her life.

Sure, it was a life or death situation with a Nevermore. Sure, if they failed, they might die. But this was what she had wanted to do for so long! To be a Huntress! And for the first time, she actually felt like one!

All of them working together—and Yang shooting its mouth—made it so that the Nevermore crashed into the side of the cliff. With Weiss then freezing it in place, and Blake using her weapon as a sling, it was left up to Ruby to finish it.

She leaned back into Blake's weapon as Weiss used her glyphs to aim her.

Ruby had no idea how good Weiss was going to be at this and was a little nervous about becoming paste on the cliff.

"Think you can make the shot," she asked in a tone that made it seem like she was joking.

The white-themed girl scoffed in response before replying, "can I?"

That… Wasn't really an answer. "Can yo-" Ruby said as she turned her head.

She was quickly cut off by Weiss who said, "of course I can!"

That was all the confirmation she needed as she focused her attention back on the Grimm.

A moment later and she was being propelled in the air towards the creature who was trying to fly to no avail as its tail was frozen. Though Ruby did notice with dawning horror that the ice was cracking. Was she even going to make it in time?

In the select few moments before her scythe connected with the Grimm Ruby noticed its head jerk upwards and its momentum stall like something had just struck it.

Seizing this moment, the crimson girl drove her blade into the creature's neck before planting her feet on the side of the cliff behind it.

Circular glyphs appeared at her feet and continued in a pattern up the cliff. Ruby felt herself being propelled upward by whatever Weiss was doing and capitalized on it.

The Grimm flailed and screeched as she used her Aura and Semblance to move faster than most people could track along the cliff. The wind rushed in her face and she could faintly hear herself laughing. This was the very first time she could do something truly Huntress-like.

The Grimm caught on the cliff's edge at the top and she fired her weapon causing the blade and herself to shoot forward. This made Crescent Rose cut cleanly through the creature's neck, beheading it.

A flip later and Ruby landed on top of the cliff's edge. She turned back and gazed out over the vast forest in front of her. She was breathing hard but that was more than worth what she had just accomplished.

Ruby Rose finally felt like a real Huntress!

* * *

Author's Note:

For any interested, I researched what the longest sniper shot in history as. It came out to about 2.2 miles according to my research.

Also, for anyone curious, the curvature of the Earth means that the human eye can't physically see past a little more than three miles.

Well, this was later than I expected. My goal was April 6th and here we are. I'll likely be slower to upload for this arc as I'll have to constantly be referencing the show to make sure I don't make any canon errors when introducing characters. But you can also rest assured, Six will most likely change canon as well and affect the very world of Remnant.

Also, people have been asking for his core stats for a long time. I'll give you a sneak peek and let you see his strongest stat. This is matched by only one other stat. He has two secondary high-level stats. Two stats artificially boosted by "enhancements" from the Think Tank as well as other surgeries (some of which aren't in the game). Can you guess which stats are which?

And finally, may the fourth be with you! For you Star Wars fans.

* * *

Current Gear:

(Warning: This list does not contain food, Chems, or other miscellaneous items.)

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear

Modified Stealth Suit Mk. II

Beacon Uniform

Mysterious Magnum

Rebreather

Maria

Survivalist Rifle

Modified Anti-Material Rifle.

YCS/186 Gauss Rifle variant.

C4 – Plastic explosives (4)

Detonator.

Frag Grenades (4)

Frag Mines (0)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades (10)

* * *

S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Stats:

Strength: ?

Perception: 10(+ +)

Endurance: ?

Charisma: ?

Intelligence: ?

Agility: ?

Luck: ?


End file.
